Cisco Systems 6500 Understanding Command Modes, Cisco IOS User Interface, Access Method, Prompt

Chapter 1 Command-Line Interface

Understanding Command Modes

Understanding Command Modes

This section contains descriptions of the command modes for the Cisco IOS user interface.

Cisco IOS User Interface

The Cisco IOS user interface is divided into many different modes. The commands that are available to you depend on which mode you are currently in. You can obtain a list of commands that are available for each command mode by entering a question mark (?) at the system prompt.

When you start a session on the Catalyst 6500 series switch, you begin in user mode, often called EXEC mode. Only a limited subset of the commands are available in EXEC mode. In order to have access to all commands, you must enter privileged EXEC mode. Normally, you must enter a password to enter privileged EXEC mode. From privileged EXEC mode, you can enter any EXEC command or enter global configuration mode. Most EXEC commands are one-time commands, such as show commands, which show the current status of a given item, and clear commands, which clear counters or interfaces. The EXEC commands are not saved across reboots of the Catalyst 6500 series switch.

The configuration modes allow you to make changes to the running configuration. If you later save the configuration, these commands are stored across Catalyst 6500 series switch reboots. In order to get to the various configuration modes, you must start at global configuration mode where you can enter interface configuration mode, subinterface configuration mode, and a variety of protocol-specific modes.

ROM-monitor mode is a separate mode that is used when the Catalyst 6500 series switch cannot boot properly. If your Catalyst 6500 series switch or access server does not find a valid system image when it is booting, or if its configuration file is corrupted at startup, the system might enter ROM-monitor mode.

Table 1-3provides a summary of the main command modes.

Table 1-3 Summary of Main Command Modes

Command
Mode	Access Method	Prompt	Exit Method
User EXEC	Log in.	ssl-proxy>	Use the logout command.
Privileged	From user EXEC mode,	ssl-proxy#	To exit to user EXEC mode, enter the disable
EXEC	enter the enable EXEC		command.
	command.		To enter global configuration mode, enter the
			configure terminal privileged EXEC
			command.
Global	From privileged EXEC	ssl-proxy(config)#	To exit to privileged EXEC mode, enter the exit
configuration	mode, enter the		or end command or press Ctrl-Z.
	configure terminal		To enter interface configuration mode, enter an
	privileged EXEC
			interface configuration command.
	command.
Global	From global	ssl-proxy(config-submode)#	To exit to global configuration submode, enter
configuration	configuration mode,		the exit command.
submode	enter a submode
	command.

Catalyst 6500 Series Switch SSL Services Module Command Reference

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