Basic Cisco Router Configuration Steps

The basic CLI modes that we will be referring below are as following:

Router> <– User EXEC Mode

Router# <– Privileged EXEC mode
Router(config)# <– Global Configuration Mode
Router(config-if)# <– Interface Configuration Mode
Router(config-line)# <– Line Configuration Mode

I assume that you already have some basic knowledge of CLI and how to navigate between
different configuration modes (user mode, privileged exec mode etc), so let’s get started:

Step1: Configure Access Passwords

The first step is to secure your access to the router by configuring a global secret password
and also passwords for Telnet or Console as needed.

Enter into Global Configuration mode from the Privileged EXEC mode:

Router# configure terminal <– Privileged EXEC mode

Router(config)# <– Global Configuration Mode

In Global Configuration Mode you configure parameters that affect the whole router device.
Here we will configure the Enable Secret password that you will be using from now own to
enter into Privileged EXEC Mode from User EXEC Mode.

Router(config)# enable secret “somestrongpassword”

From now on, when you log in from user EXEC mode you will be asked for a password.

It is suggested also to configure a password for the Telnet Lines (VTY lines) which will secure
your access when connecting via Telnet over the network.

Router(config)# line vty 0 15

Router(config-line)# password “strongTelnetPass”
Router(config-line)# login

Step2: Configure a Router Hostname

To differentiate your Router from other devices in the network, you should configure a
Hostname for your device.

Router(config)# hostname My-Router

My-Router(config)#

Notice that your Router prompt changes to the new hostname that you have just set.

Step3: Configure IP addresses for Router Interfaces

This is an essential step in order for your router to be able to forward packets in the network.
The most basic parameter for a Router Interface is the IP address. From Global Configuration
Mode you need to enter into Interface Configuration Mode:

My-Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0

My-Router(config-if)# ip address 100.100.100.1 255.255.255.252
My-Router(config-if)# no shutdown
My-Router(config-if)# exit

My-Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/1

My-Router(config-if)# ip address 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0
My-Router(config-if)# no shutdown
My-Router(config-if)# exit

Step4: Configure Routing (Static or Dynamic)

The Router’s main purpose is to find the best route path towards a destination network and
forward packets according to the best path. There are two main ways a router knows where to
send packets. The administrator can assign static routes, or the router can learn routes by
using a dynamic routing protocol. For simple network topologies, static routing is preferred
over dynamic routing. Let’s see how to configure static routes from Global Configuration Mode.

My-Router(config)# ip route [destination network] [subnet mask] [gateway]

My-Router(config)# ip route 200.200.200.0 255.255.255.0 100.100.100.2

The command above tells the router that network 200.200.200.0/24 is reachable via gateway
address 100.100.100.2.

Another popular static route that we usually configure on Internet Border routers is the default
static route:

My-Router(config)# ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 100.100.100.2

The default static route above instructs the router to send ALL packets that the router does
not have a more specific route entry to gateway address 50.50.50.1 (which might be the ISP
gateway address).

Step5: Save your configuration

Save your current running configuration into NVRAM. This will overwrite the startup
configuration.

My-Router(config)# exit
My-Router# copy running-config startup-config

You can display your current configuration to verify your settings as following:

My-Router# show running-config