Common IOS Commands — The Daily Toolkit

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Learning Objectives

Recognize the handful of commands you'll run constantly
Know what each one is actually telling you
Build a simulated CLI command dispatcher

The Commands You'll Live In

show ip interface brief is the one you'll run a hundred times a day -- quick status of every interface. Add to that: show running-config (active settings), show version (IOS + hardware info), ping / traceroute (connectivity tests), show cdp neighbors (what's directly connected), and copy running-config startup-config (SAVE your work -- this is the one beginners forget and lose everything on reboot).

This is real Cisco IOS syntax -- not Python. You'd type this in a terminal/console session, not 'Run' it here.

enable
configure terminal
show running-config
show ip interface brief
show version
copy running-config startup-config
ping 8.8.8.8
traceroute 8.8.8.8
show cdp neighbors

Practice — Simulated CLI

Here's the same idea as a tiny Python dispatcher: a dictionary of canned command outputs, like a simulated device session.

CANNED_OUTPUT = {
    "show version": "Cisco IOS Software, Version 15.2(7)E3",
    "show ip interface brief": "Gig0/0  up    Gig0/1  down",
}

def run_command(cmd):
    return CANNED_OUTPUT.get(cmd, f"% Invalid input detected: {cmd}")

print(run_command("show version"))
print(run_command("show ip interface brief"))
print(run_command("reload"))

📝 Exercise: Build a Mini CLI Session

Build a class mini_cli_session with a CANNED_OUTPUT lookup table (at least 4 commands) and a run(command) method. Add a history list that records every command run, and a show_history() method that prints them in order.

code.py

class mini_cli_session:
    CANNED_OUTPUT = {
        "show version": "Cisco IOS Software, Version 15.2(7)E3",
        "show ip interface brief": "Gig0/0  up    Gig0/1  down",
        "show cdp neighbors": "core-sw1.local  Gig0/1  Switch",
        "show running-config": "hostname edge-rtr2\nip routing",
    }

    def __init__(self):
        self.history = []

    def run(self, command):
        self.history.append(command)
        return self.CANNED_OUTPUT.get(command, f"% Invalid input detected: {command}")

    def show_history(self):
        for i, cmd in enumerate(self.history, start=1):
            print(f"{i}. {cmd}")


session = mini_cli_session()
print(session.run("show version"))
print(session.run("show ip interface brief"))
print(session.run("reload"))
print("--- history ---")
session.show_history()

Output

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