You're reading from Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions: 200-301 CCNA Exam Guide

Product typeBook

Published inNov 2020

PublisherPackt

ISBN-139781800208094

Edition1st Edition

Tools

Cisco UCS

Concepts

Network Security

Author (1)

Glen D. Singh

Chapter 2: Getting Started with Cisco IOS Devices

You must be thrilled to start your journey of learning about Cisco technologies, especially learning how to implement and administer Cisco solutions in an enterprise organization. One of the key components to ensure your success is gaining a lot of hands-on experience with technologies. This hands-on experience will help you grasp the concepts we'll be talking about easily, while demonstrating the effect of configurations during the implementation phases. However, a major challenge for most beginners is getting hands-on experience during their learning and examination preparation phases. Another concern is getting access to Cisco equipment after classroom training hours or even when a training session has ended.

To solve these challenges, I am dedicating this chapter to demonstrate how to build a Cisco lab environment to get the hands-on experience you need, at your convenience.

In this chapter, we will cover the following...

Technical requirements

To follow along with the exercises in this chapter, please ensure that you have met the following hardware and software requirements:

Core:

A computer
PuTTY

Virtual lab environment:

Cisco Packet Tracer 7.3.0
GNS3 2.2.5
GNS3 VM server 2.2.5
VirtualBox 6.1
VMware Workstation 15 Pro (optional)
Cisco IOSv
Cisco IOSvL2
Cisco CSR1000v (optional)

Physical lab environment:

Cisco 2911 routers
Cisco 2960 switches
1 x Cisco 3560 switch or Cisco 3650 switch
1 x Cisco console cable
1 x RS-232 to USB converter cable
A few network patch cables (straight-through and crossover)

The code files for this chapter are available here: https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Implementing-and-Administering-Cisco-Solutions/tree/master/Chapter%2002.

Check out the following video to see the Code in Action: https://bit.ly/360Odeo

Building a Cisco lab environment

It's very important to get a lot of hands-on practice when pursuing a technical Cisco certification. You can do this by labbing up everything, whereby you practice by putting everything you've learned for the certification in practice labs along the way.

In the following sections, you will learn about the various methods of building a Cisco environment using both virtual and physical equipment.

Cisco Packet Tracer

You may be wondering, what is Cisco Packet Tracer? Years ago, Cisco Systems created their own online learning platform using a variety of e-learning and collaboration tools for some of their certification programs. In doing so, they also created a very lightweight network simulator tool that allows users to build, design, and troubleshoot a Cisco enterprise network. Its purpose is to allow students to sharpen their skillset while learning and preparing for the CCNA certification.

Just a few years ago, the Cisco Networking...

Getting started with Cisco IOS devices

Nowadays, almost all electronic devices have some form of firmware to help them execute tasks. In most instances, there is an operating system that's used to provide the user with a lot of functionality. Similar to a typical laptop computer or a smartphone, there are hardware components such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), also referred to as the processor, that are used to execute arithmetic calculations and provide control over the computer. There is also Random Access Memory (RAM), which is used to temporarily store data while the CPU accesses it, and there is a storage unit where you can store the operating system and other types of data while the device is powered off.

However, without an operating system such as Windows, MAC, or even Linux, the components of the computer will not be able to work together to execute functions defined by the user. To put it simply, the operating system provides a process for controlling the hardware...

Accessing a Cisco IOS device

Unlike a computer or smartphone, a network intermediary device such as a router or switch does not have a display screen that shows you the user interface for managing the operating system. Whenever you purchase a new Cisco IOS device, within the packaging of the box, you will usually find a blue cable; this is called a console cable or rollover cable.

The following is an image of a console cable:

Figure 2.28 – Cisco console cable

On one end, there's a DB-9 (RS-232) interface, which is used to connect to a computer's DB-9 (RS-232) port. However, modern-day computers and laptop manufacturers no longer make devices with these interfaces. However, you can get an RS-232 to USB converter cable from an online or local computer store. This converter cable enables you to use the console cable over a USB connection.

The following is an image of the RS-232 to USB converter cable:

Figure 2.29 &...

Configuring the Cisco IOS

The Cisco Internetwork Operating System (Cisco IOS) is a full-fledged operating system that provides you with an interface to control the hardware and the device. The Cisco IOS has many security features to ensure you are able to secure a network environment and the device as well. One such security feature is that the Cisco IOS has many command modes. This separates the management access interface into the following modes:

User Exec
Privilege Exec
Global configuration mode

When you establish a console connection to a Cisco IOS device, you are taken directly into the User Exec mode by default. User Exec mode provides very limited capabilities for a user as it allows for basic troubleshooting and monitoring commands such as ping and traceroute.

User Exec mode can be easily identified with the > prompt, as shown here:

Router>

Privilege Exec mode allows the user to perform many more commands within the Cisco IOS. In this...

Performing troubleshooting procedures

After performing configurations on a device, it's good practice to execute the relevant show command to verify what you have done is correct and is working as expected. Throughout this book, we will learn about additional methods for designing and optimizing a network using Cisco devices, where you will learn about new configurations and troubleshooting commands to help you along the way.

There are two main tools that help us troubleshoot a network from the client side (PC):

Ping
Traceroute

Ping is simply used to test end-to-end connectivity between the devices on a network. This tool uses the ping ip address of target syntax. The following is an example of a successful connectivity test:

Figure 2.48 – Ping test on a Windows Command Prompt

However, the Cisco IOS does not provide an output similar to the one shown in the preceding output. The following are the symbols and their descriptions...

Summary

Having completed this chapter, you have learned some amazing skills and got to build your very own Cisco lab environment. Most importantly, you got hands on with Cisco switches and routers. There are many ways you can get the practical experience you desire, by either purchasing physical equipment or even building a fully virtualized lab environment. Keep in mind that Cisco Packet Tracer is updated quite often and new features are always being added, along with many improvements.

My personal advice is that you shouldn't be afraid of trying new things in your lab environment. If you break or misconfigure something, try to figure out what went wrong and how to resolve the issue. Network engineering is a continuous process of designing, configuring, and troubleshooting, but most importantly, it's about problem solving and critical thinking. So, don't be afraid – use the help (?) command, and even try to emulate your home or office network in your Cisco...

Questions

The following are a short list of review questions to help reinforce your learning and help you identify areas that require some improvement:

If you are currently in line console mode, which shortcut will carry you back to Privilege Exec mode?
A. CTRL + C
B. CTRL + X
C. CTRL + V
D. CTRL + Z
Which mode allows you to execute the enable secret command?
A. Privilege Exec
B. User Exec
C. Global config
D. Line
An interface is showing as administratively down. How do you activate the interface?
A. No shutdown
B. Up
C. Start
D. None of the above
You are tasked with setting up remote access on various networking devices. Which of the following methods is best suited?
A. Console
B. SSH
C. Telnet
D. VTY
Which of the following commands will display the banner message "keep out"?
A. banner #keep out#
B. banner motd keep out
C. banner motd #keep out%
D. banner motd &keep out&
Which of the following commands will set a secure password on the Cisco IOS?
A. enable...

Glen D. Singh is a cybersecurity author, educator and SecOps professional. His areas of expertise are cybersecurity operations, offensive security tactics and techniques, and enterprise networking. He holds a Master of Science (MSc) in cybersecurity and many industry certifications from top awarding bodies such as EC-Council, Cisco, and Check Point. Glen loves teaching and mentoring others while sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience as an author. He has written many books, which focus on vulnerability discovery and exploitation, threat detection, intrusion analysis, incident response, network security, and enterprise networking. As an aspiring game changer, Glen is passionate about increasing cybersecurity awareness in his homeland, Trinidad and Tobago.
Read more about Glen D. Singh

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