Top and Most useful Cisco IOS Commands Networking

If you are very new to networking and you are using Cisco routers for the first time or you are in learning phase, the below list of commands are the ones which are mostly and commonly used in day to day life. Sometimes the use of below commands can also be asked during an interview.

• no shutdown – This command will unshut or enable the interface like fast ethernet, ethernet etc.
• show memory– This command will show memory statistics in the router
• reload – This command will restarts the router
• show run  or show running-configuration – This command will show the running configuration of the router/switch.
• show version – This command will show information like Cisco IOS Version, Router/Switch up time, IOS Image name, Configuration register value, RAM and NVRAM Memory
• show clock – This command will show date and time on router
• show ip route – This command will show the router’s routing table which will have a list of networks that the router can reach.
• show history – This command will shows the history of the commands used recently
• show debug – This command will show all debugging that is currently enabled.
• show buffers – This command will show statistics for router buffer pools, shows the size of the small, middle, big, very big, large and huge Buffers
• show interface – This command will show the status of a router interface like Interface status where it is up or down, Interface protocol status, interface utilization, interface error, MTU configured on the interface.
• no debug all – This command will turn off all debugging that are currently enabled
• show flash – This command will show the flash memory and displays the size of files and the amount of free flash memory
• show users – This command will show users connected to router currently.
• show stacks – This command will show reason for last reboot, monitors the stack use of processes and interrupts routines
• show protocols – This command will show which protocols are configured
• banner motd  – This command will set or change banner which is displayed when someone access the router
• hostname – This command is used to configure the hostname of the router
• clear counters – This command will clear interface counters. This helps in troubleshooting.
• copy running-configuration startup-configuration – This command will save the configuration that is currently being modified (in RAM). If the device is powered down due to any conditions, the NVRAM will preserve this configuration
• show processes – This comamnd will show active processes running on router
• show process cpu – This command will show cpu statistics on the router
• show access-lists –  This command will show access lists information configured on the router
• show cdp neighbor – This command will show a summary of connected cdp devices

Hope this helps!

Avinash Karnani

I am working in an IT company and having 10+ years of experience into Cisco IP Telephony and Contact Center. I have worked on products like CUCM, CUC, UCCX, CME/CUE, IM&P, Voice Gateways, VG224, Gatekeepers, Attendant Console, Expressway, Mediasense, Asterisk, Microsoft Teams, Zoom etc. I am not an expert but i keep exploring whenever and wherever i can and share whatever i know. You can visit my LinkedIn profile by clicking on the icon below.

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