Basic Router Configuration

Basic Router Configuration

 Rename the router

 Setting system clock 

 Show system time

 Setting banner for router

 Setting the description for an interface

 Setting line password

 Setting privileged access password

Rename the Router

To specify or modify the host name for the router, global configuration command HOSTNAME is used. Hostname is case sensitive. The host name is used in prompts and default configuration filenames.

Router(config)# hostname How2Pass

The factory-assigned default host name is router.

Setting the System Clock

The system clock runs from the moment the system starts up and keeps track of the current date and time based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The system clock can be set from a number of sources, and in turn can be used to distribute the current time through various mechanisms to other systems. To manually set the system clock, use one of the formats of the clock set EXEC command.

clock set hh:mm:ss day month yyyy
clock set hh:mm:ss month day yyyy

In the following example, the system clock is manually set to 1:32 p.m. on May 12, 2001:

Router# clock set 13:32:00 12 May 2001

Show System Time

To display the system clock, use the show clock EXEC command. If time has not been set by the clock set command then this command will show the time lapsed since router is up.

Router# show clock

Setting the Banner

To specify a message-of-the-day (MOTD) banner, use the banner motd global configuration command. The no form of this command deletes the MOTD banner. When someone connects to the router, the MOTD banner appears before the login prompt.

Router(config)# banner motd # message #
Here (#) sign is used as delaminating character. You can use any character.

Setting the Description for an Interface

To add a description to an interface configuration, use the description interface configuration command. Use the no form of this command to remove the description.
The description command is meant solely as a comment to be put in the configuration to help you remember what certain interfaces are used for.
The following example shows how to add a description for a T1 interface:

Router(config)# interface serial 0

Router(config-if)# description T1 line to How2Pass - 128 Kb/s

The description "T1 line to How2Pass - 128 Kb/s" appears in the output of the following EXEC commands: show startup-config, show interfaces, and show running-config

Setting the Line Password

To specify a password on a line, use the password line configuration command. Use the no form of this command to remove the password. The first character cannot be a number. The string can contain any alphanumeric characters, including spaces, up to 80 characters.

Console Password

Console password is needed when logging into router at user EXEC mode from console.

Router(config)# line console 0

Router(config-line)# password How2pass2004

vty lines password

Virtual terminal lines (vty) are used to allow remote access to the router (by telneting through its interfaces). The router has five virtual terminal lines by default.

Router(config)# line vty 0 4

Router(config-line)# password How2Pass2004

Setting Privileged Access Password

To set a local password to control access to various privilege levels, use the enable password global configuration command. Use the no form of this command to remove the password requirement.

An enable password is defined as follows:

• Must contain from 1 to 25 uppercase and lowercase alphanumeric characters.
• Must not have a number as the first character.
• Can have leading spaces, but they are ignored. However, intermediate and trailing spaces are recognized.

Router(config)# enable password How2Pass2004

Setting Secret (Encrypted) Password

To set an encrypted local password to control access to various privilege levels, use the enable secret global configuration command. Use the no form of this command to remove the password requirement.

Router(config)# enable secret How2pass2004