Cisco Router Configuration Tutorial

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. The following table 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.

This is article very long...hehhehe....download here