Cisco IOS Software Basics
Step 3
Cisco IOS Software Basics
This section provides you with some basic information about the Cisco IOS software and
includes the following sections:
•
Cisco IOS Modes of Operation
•
Getting Context-Sensitive Help
•
Saving Configuration Changes
Cisco IOS Modes of Operation
The Cisco IOS software provides access to several different command modes. Each
command mode provides a different group of related commands.
For security purposes, the Cisco IOS software provides two levels of access to commands:
user and privileged. The unprivileged user mode is called user EXEC mode. The privileged
mode is called privileged EXEC mode and requires a password. The commands available
in user EXEC mode are a subset of the commands available in privileged EXEC mode.
Table 4-2 describes some of the most commonly used modes, how to enter the modes, and
the resulting prompts. The prompt helps you identify which mode you are in and, therefore,
which commands are available to you.
4-14 Router Installation and Configuration Guide
If AutoInstall completes successfully, enter the copy running-config
startup-config command in privileged EXEC mode to write the configuration
data to the router's NVRAM:
Router# copy running-config startup-config
Taking this step saves the configuration settings that the AutoInstall process
created to the router's NVRAM. If you do not do this, the configuration will be
lost the next time you reload the router.