Cisco Systems IE 2000 Telnet Password for a Terminal Line, Username and Password Pairs, Multiple Privilege Levels

12-4
Cisco IE 2000 Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-25866-01
Chapter 12 Configuring Switch-Based Authentication
Information About Configuring Switch-Based Authentication
Telnet Password for a Terminal Line
When you power-up your switch for the first time, an automatic setup p rogram runs to assign IP
information and to create a default configuration for continued use. The setup program a lso prompts you
to configure your switch for Telnet access through a password. If you did not configure this password
during the setup program, you can configure it now through the command -line interface (CLI).
Username and Password Pairs
You can configure username and password pairs, which are locally stored on the switch. These pairs are
assigned to lines or ports and authenticate each user before that user can access the switch. If you have
defined privilege levels, you can also assign a specific privilege level (with associated rights and
privileges) to each username and password pair.
Multiple Privilege Levels
By default, the Cisco IOS software has two modes of password security: user EXEC and privileged
EXEC. You can configure up to 16 hierarchical levels of commands for each mode. By configuring
multiple passwords, you can allow different sets of users to have access to spec ified commands.
For example, if you want many users to have access to the clear line command, you can assign it
level 2 security and distribute the level 2 password fairly widely. But if you want more restricted access
to the configure command, you can assign it level 3 security and distribute that password to a more
restricted group of users.
When you set a command to a privilege level, all commands whose syntax is a subset of that command
are also set to that level. For example, if you set the show ip traffic command to level 15, the show
commands and show ip commands are automatically set to privilege level 15 unless you set them
individually to different levels.
To return to the default privilege for a given command, use the no privilege mode level level command
global configuration command.
Users can override the privilege level you set using the privilege level line configuration command by
logging in to the line and enabling a different privilege level. They can lower the privilege level by using
the disable command. If users know the password to a higher privilege level, they can use that password
to enable the higher privilege level. You might specify a high level or privilege level for your console
line to restrict line usage.
To return to the default line privilege level, use the no privilege level line configuration command.