Syntax Conventions

Privileges

Prompts

Syntax Formatting

Command Types

Text File Formatting

Sections and Keywords

Synta x Conventions

This chapter describes the command syntax conventions, including privileges and prompts, command types, and text file syntax.

Privileg es

The VPN 5001 concentrator has enabled and normal modes. In normal mode, entered using the first system password, you can view tables and statistics, but cannot modify the configuration.

Enabled mode has an additional password. You can enter enabled mode in the following ways:

If you did not set an enabled password according to the "Setting the Password and Device Name" section, then the regular password enables enabled mode.
If you entered a privileged command, you are prompted for the enabled password.
Use the enable command.

If you do not use the command line for 5 minutes, enabled mode times out.

Prom pts

Command line prompts inform you which mode you are in as well as which section and port your commands apply to. The following table describes the prompts in the VPN 5000 software:

Table C-1: Command Line Prompts

Prompts Description

Privileges

string>
Normal mode. The string depends on the section and port you are configuring. The Edit config mode always uses this symbol, even in enabled mode.

string#
Enabled mode. The string depends on the section and port you are configuring.

*string# *string>
You have made changes to the configuration. The * stays until you write or save the configuration to Flash memory. The * does not display in edit config mode.

Strings

device_name
Displays when you are not in any section. For example:

CiscoVPN_1#

[ Section Name ]
Displays when you are in a configuration section. All commands entered at this prompt apply to the section and port, number, or name. For example:

[ IP Ethernet 0 ]#

Edit [ Section Name ]
Displays when you are in edit config mode for a section. The prompt always ends with >, even though you are in enabled mode. For example:

Edit [ IP Filter "ip-in" ]>

Append
Displays when you are in the edit config text editor and you are appending a line to a section. The prompt always ends with >, even though you are in enabled mode.

Prompts	Description
Privileges
string>	Normal mode. The string depends on the section and port you are configuring. The Edit config mode always uses this symbol, even in enabled mode.
string#	Enabled mode. The string depends on the section and port you are configuring.
*string# *string>	You have made changes to the configuration. The * stays until you write or save the configuration to Flash memory. The * does not display in edit config mode.
Strings
device_name	Displays when you are not in any section. For example: CiscoVPN_1#
[ Section Name ]	Displays when you are in a configuration section. All commands entered at this prompt apply to the section and port, number, or name. For example: [ IP Ethernet 0 ]#
Edit [ Section Name ]	Displays when you are in edit config mode for a section. The prompt always ends with >, even though you are in enabled mode. For example: Edit [ IP Filter "ip-in" ]>
Append	Displays when you are in the edit config text editor and you are appending a line to a section. The prompt always ends with >, even though you are in enabled mode.

Syntax Forma tting

Depending on the command syntax, you might see a variety of symbols and font styles in this document.

Table C-2: Syntax Font Styles and Symbols

Style or Symbol Description

Boldface
Enter bold text exactly as shown.

Italics
Indicates a variable for which you supply the value. In contexts that do not allow italics, variables are enclosed in angle brackets (< >).

Plain text
Plain text represents the screen display, such as a prompt. Do not enter plain text as part of the command.

<variable>
Indicates a variable for which you supply values, in contexts where italics cannot be used.

[x]
Keywords in square brackets are optional.

[x | y]
Keywords in square brackets separated by vertical bars indicate an optional keyword with a choice between values.

{x | y | z}
A choice of required keywords appear in braces separated by vertical bars. You must select one.

[x {y | z}]
Braces and vertical bars within square brackets indicate a required choice within an optional element. You do not need to select one. If you do, you have some required choices.

Style or Symbol	Description
Boldface	Enter bold text exactly as shown.
Italics	Indicates a variable for which you supply the value. In contexts that do not allow italics, variables are enclosed in angle brackets (< >).
Plain text	Plain text represents the screen display, such as a prompt. Do not enter plain text as part of the command.
<variable>	Indicates a variable for which you supply values, in contexts where italics cannot be used.
[x]	Keywords in square brackets are optional.
[x \| y]	Keywords in square brackets separated by vertical bars indicate an optional keyword with a choice between values.
{x \| y \| z}	A choice of required keywords appear in braces separated by vertical bars. You must select one.
[x {y \| z}]	Braces and vertical bars within square brackets indicate a required choice within an optional element. You do not need to select one. If you do, you have some required choices.

Comm and Types

The VPN 5000 software has configuration and management commands.

Configuration commands allow you to configure or edit config a configuration file section, after which all further configuration commands apply to that section. Using the configure command, for example, you enter the section for a particular name or interface:

device# configure IP Ethernet 0

And then enter as many keywords as you want to apply to the section:

[ IP Ethernet 0 ]# keyword = value

[ IP Ethernet 0 ]# keyword = value

...

The configure command formats and checks the input and offers a help facility (keyword = ? or [ section ]# Help). Edit config, on the other hand, allows you to enter rules directly into the configuration file with a special text editor. Edit config does not check the syntax or provide help for the particular section. For example, enter the section for a particular name:

device# edit config IP Filter "ip-in"

And then append lines to the section:

Edit [ IP Filter "ip-in" ]> append $

Append> rule1

Append> rule 2

Append> .

Edit [ IP Filter "ip-in" ]> exit

device#

Managem ent commands can be entered at any time at any prompt, and allow you to:

Perform system tasks, such as saving, restarting, or pinging
Change runtime parameters that are not permanently stored
Show and edit tables and statistics

Some management commands apply to a particular interface, and you have to first specify the interface before entering further commands. Some runtime commands do not have equivalent permanent configurations.

The following figure shows the hierarchy of commands, where commands entered after entering a particular section apply only to that section.

Figure C-1: Command Hierarchy

See the Cisco VPN 5000 Concentrator Series Command Reference Guide for a list of commands.

Text File Formattin g

Instead of using the command line, you can manually edit a text file called vpn5001.cfg with the appropriate commands, and download it to the system using TFTP. See "Example Configurations," for sample text files. See the "Copying a Text Configuration File" section to download the file.

The configuration file can be up to 65,500 characters long.

Sections and Keywords

This section describes the syntax for sections and keywords as well as how they fit in text columns.

Note See the Cisco VPN 5000 Concentrator Series Command Reference Guide for a list of sections and keywords.

Sections

In the command line, you enter commands like configure or edit config to access sections to configure. The command line then writes your changes to the text configuration file. To edit the file directly, you simply type the section name enclosed by brackets and list the keyword values or rules under it. For example:

[ IP Ethernet 0 ]
IPAddress = 10.1.1.1
SubnetAddress = 255.255.255.0
 
[ IP Filter "ip-in" ]
permit 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 tcp dst = smtp
permit 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 tcp dst = nntp log

Keywords

Some keywords can occur multiple times in the same section. If you enter multiple instances of a keyword that the software allows only once, the software uses only the first instance.

Keywords with Boolean values accept any version, such as On/Off; True/False; 1/0; Yes/No.

The case does not matter. Use an equal sign (=) to separate the keyword from its value. You can use any amount of white space between the equal sign and the keyword and value. The following keywords all have valid syntax:

keyword1 = value
keyWORD2=value
KEyWorD3       =value

Text Columns

A section title or keyword must begin in the line's first column to be parsed correctly. If the section begins in any other column, the system ignores it and includes its keyword values with the previous section. If the keyword begins in any other column, the system ignores it and its value.

[ This is one section ]
and
 
its
data
[ Here is another section ]
and its
data
 
                             [ This is an invalid section]
its data will be
included with the previous section

Comments

Comments and blank lines can occur anywhere in a configuration. If you create your own configuration files, you should document your choices with comments as much as possible to make them easier to edit later.

Comments begin with a pound sign (#).

#  This is a comment
[ New Section ]        # So is this

Table of Contents

Syntax Conventions