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Basic Cisco IOS Commands Cheat Sheet by

Command-line interface commands and keyboard shortcuts for Cisco IOS

Modes

Level
Mode
Prompt
1
User EXEC
Device>
2
Privileged EXEC
Device#
3
Global Config
Device­(co­nfig)#
4a
Interface Config
Device­(co­nfi­g-if)#
4b
Line Config
Device­(co­nfi­g-line)

Keyboard Shortcuts

Up Arrow
Automa­tically re-types last command
Ctrl+Shift+6
Oh crap, stop! (Cancels whatever it's currently doing)
Ctrl+C
Exits config mode
Ctrl+Z
Applies current command & returns to priv. EXEC mode
Ctrl+U
Erases anything on current prompt line
Tab
Completes abbrev­iated command

"­Sho­w" Commands

Command
Inform­ation Displayed
 
show version
IOS version, memory capacity, etc.
 
show mac address-table
MAC address table
 
show ip route
routing table
 
show interface g0/0
status, MAC, IP, etc. for Gigabit Ethernet 0/0
 
show ip interface brief
name, IP, status, etc. (all interf­aces)

Other Commands

Command
From Mode
Function
 
sdm pre dual def
global config
used if switch won't take IPv6 address

General Commands

Short
Command
Complete Command
Function
 
en
 
enable
user EXEC > priv. EXEC
 
conf t
 
config terminal
priv. EXEC > global config
 
int
 
interface
global config > interface config
 
li
 
line
global config > line config
 
sh run
 
show runnin­g-c­onfig
shows current config
 
cop r s
 
copy runnin­g-c­onfig startu­p-c­onfig
saves current config
 
no ip dom lo
 
no ip domain-lookup
keeps router from trying to read bad cmds as host names
 
era star
 
[Tab]
 
erase startu­p-c­onfig
MUST use after labs to reset router configs!
 
del vlan.dat
 
delete vlan.dat
MUST use after labs to reset router configs!
 

Initial Config­uration (Switches and Routers)

Command
From Mode
What It Does
 
hostname xyz
global config
sets hostname to xyz
 
enable secret xyz
global config
sets encrypted password for priv. EXEC to xyz
 
service passwo­rd-­encrypt
global config
encrypts all passwords
 
line console 0
global config
enters line config mode for console
 
line vty 0 15
global config
enters line config mode for 16 vty lines
 
password xyz
line config
sets line password to xyz
 
login
line config
enables users to login
 
int vlan 1
global config
enters interface config mode for vlan1
 
ip address [IP] [subnet]
interface config
sets IP address
 
no shut
interface config
turns on interface
 
banner motd #Text Here#
global config
sets motd banner

Router­-Sp­ecific Config­uration Commands

Command
From Mode
Function
 
interface g0/1
global config
enters interface config for Gigabit Ethernet 0/1
 
ip address IP/prefix
interface config
sets interf­ace's IPv4 address
 
no shut
interface config
turns on the interface
 
descri­ption descri­ption text
interface config
used to document info about the interface
 
ipv6 address IP/prefix
interface config
sets interf­ace's IPv6 address
 
ipv6 address IP/prefix link-local
interface config
sets interf­ace's IPv6 link-local address
 
ipv6 unicast-routing
global config
enables IPv6 routing
                       
 

Metadata

  • Languages:
  • Published: 30th September, 2017
  • Last Updated: 20th June, 2025
  • Rated: 5 out of 5 stars based on 6 ratings

Favourited By

sglsg007 tomshuman JJacks Jrich MJB3230

Comments

this slide look really good

awesome information

cannot download color version of Basic Cisco IOS Commands Cheat Sheet PDF. Any ideas. BW downloaded OK

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