Cisco Router modes

09 Nov, 2021
A router is a layer 3 device used to forward packets from one network to another. It forwards the packet through one of its ports on the basis of destination IP address and the entry in the routing table. By using a routing table, it finds an optimized path between the source and destination network. 
Let’s discuss the Cisco router’s different modes. 
Modes of router – There are mainly 5 modes in the router:  
User execution mode – As soon as the interface up message appears and press enter, the router> prompt will pop up. This is called user execution mode. This mode is limited to some monitoring commands.  Privileged mode – As we type enable to user mode, we enter into Privileged mode where we can view and change the configuration of the router. Different commands like show running-configuration, show IP interface brief, etc can run on this mode which is used for troubleshooting purposes.  Global configuration mode – As we type configure terminal to the user mode, we will enter into the global configuration mode. Commands entered in these modes are called global commands and they affect the running configuration of the router. In this mode, a different configuration like making a local database on the router by providing username and password can set enable and secret password, etc.  Interface configuration mode – In this mode, only the configuration of interfaces is done. Assigning an IP address to an interface, bringing up the interface are the common tasks done in this mode.  ROMMON mode – We can enter this mode when we interrupt the boot process of the router. Generally, we enter in this mode while the password recovery process or Backing up of IOS on devices like TFTP server. It is like the BIOS mode of a PC.  
User execution mode – As soon as the interface up message appears and press enter, the router> prompt will pop up. This is called user execution mode. This mode is limited to some monitoring commands.  
Privileged mode – As we type enable to user mode, we enter into Privileged mode where we can view and change the configuration of the router. Different commands like show running-configuration, show IP interface brief, etc can run on this mode which is used for troubleshooting purposes.  
Global configuration mode – As we type configure terminal to the user mode, we will enter into the global configuration mode. Commands entered in these modes are called global commands and they affect the running configuration of the router. In this mode, a different configuration like making a local database on the router by providing username and password can set enable and secret password, etc.  
Interface configuration mode – In this mode, only the configuration of interfaces is done. Assigning an IP address to an interface, bringing up the interface are the common tasks done in this mode.  
ROMMON mode – We can enter this mode when we interrupt the boot process of the router. Generally, we enter in this mode while the password recovery process or Backing up of IOS on devices like TFTP server. It is like the BIOS mode of a PC.  
Entering and exiting in different modes: 
Configuration – The user execution mode:  
router>
Entering into privilege mode from user execution mode:  
router>enable
router# 
Exiting from privilege mode to user execution mode:  
router#disable
router>
Entering in global configuration mode from privilege mode:  
router#configure terminal
router(config)#
Exiting from global configuration mode to privilege mode:  
router(config)#exit
router#
Entering into interface mode from global configuration mode. Here we have to specify the router’s interface.  
router(config)#interface fa0/0
router(config-if)#
Exiting from interface mode to global configuration mode.  
router(config-if)#exit
router(config)#
Exiting from interface mode to privilege mode.  
router(config-if)#end
router#
Entering into ROMMON mode from privilege mode. 
router#reload
gulshankumarar231
Pushpender007
23603vaibhav2021
Computer Networks
Computer Networks
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