Console Password

Console Password

To set the console password, use the line console 0 command. But look at what happened when I tried to type line console 0 ? from the aux line configuration—I received an error. You can still type line console 0 and it will accept it, but the help screens just don’t work from that prompt. Type exit to get back one level and you’ll find that your help screens now work. This is a “feature.” Really.

Here’s the example:

Router(config-line)#line console ? % Unrecognized command

Router(config-line)#exit

Router(config)#line console ? <0-0> First Line number

Router(config)#line console 0

Router(config-line)#login

Router(config-line)#password Adam

Since there’s only one console port, I can only choose line console 0. You can set all your line passwords to the same password, but for security reasons, I’d recommend that you make them different.

There are a few other important commands to know for the console port.

For one, the exec-timeout 0 0 command sets the timeout for the console EXEC session to zero, which basically means to never time out. The default timeout is 10 minutes. (If you’re feel­ing mischievous, try this on people at work: Set it to 0 1. That will make the console time out in 1 second! And to fix it, you have to continually press the down arrow key while changing the timeout time with your free hand!)

logging synchronous is a very cool command, and it should be a default command, but it’s not. It stops annoying console messages from popping up and disrupting the input you’re trying to type. The messages still pop up, but you are returned to your router prompt without your input interrupted. This makes your input messages oh-so-much easier to read.

Here’s an example of how to configure both commands:

Router(config)#line con 0

Router(config-line)#exec-timeout ? <0-35791> Timeout in minutes

Router(config-line)#exec-timeout 0 ? <0-2147483> Timeout in seconds <cr>

Router(config-line)#exec-timeout 0 0

Router(config-line)#logging synchronous