What are the cisco IOS modes?

Answer 1

IOS has many different modes, the main ones being user exec and privileged mode. Both usually require authentication to enter. So when you initially telnet into your router you are in basic mode. This allows you to do very few commands, such as ping, telnet to another host, and get statistical information. Access to all configurations are off limits, even for viewing.

User Exec ModeWhen you first log in, you are already at user exec mode. You can also tell because you are given the ">" prompt. Privileged Exec ModePrivileged Exec Mode is simply the administration mode for the router. This mode by itself allows you to view router settings that are considered private. To get into the privileged exec mode you must use the enable command.

Clue: People with a clue would type 'en' to enter privileged exec mode.

The Privileged exec mode is given the "#" prompt. A few of the common commands are listed below:

• show access-list - displays all access lists and the number of matches each line has received since the access list was applied.
• show interface - displayes the mani configurations of all interfaces.
• show interface summary - (IOS version 12.0 and newer) Displays a quick summary of all interfaces.

Privileged mode has a a few sub modes as well such as global configuration mode, interface configuration mode, and routing configuration mode, which are described below. You can think of the different modes as a tree that give you more access and more specific configurations as you traverse down the branches.

User Exec Mode | Privleged Mode (en) | Global Configuration (conf t) | | Interface (int ...) Routing (route..)