In order to verify and troubleshoot network operation, we must examine the operation of the devices. The basic examination command is the show command.
There are many different variations of this command. As you develop more skill with the IOS, you will learn to use and interpret the output of the show commands. Use the show ? command to get a list of available commands in a given context, or mode.
A typical show command can provide information about the configuration, operation, and status of parts of a Cisco switch or router. The figure highlights some of the common IOS commands.
In this course, we focus on mostly basic show commands.
A very commonly used show command is show interfaces. This command displays statistics for all interfaces on the device. To view the statistics for a specific interface, enter the show interfaces command followed by the specific interface type and slot/port number. For example:
Switch# show interfaces fastethernet 0/1
Some other show commands frequently used by network technicians include:
show startup-config - Displays the saved configuration located in NVRAM.
show running-config - Displays the contents of the currently running configuration file.
The More Prompt
When a command returns more output than can be displayed on a single screen, the --More-- prompt appears at the bottom of the screen. When a --More-- prompt appears, press the Space bar to view the next portion of output. To display only the next line, press the Enter key. If any other key is pressed, the output is cancelled and you are returned to the prompt.