Measure the test taker's knowledge about the usage of Cisco IOS test commands.

In the real world or laboratory environment, Cisco IOS test commands are very useful and powerful commands. Learn the basic usage of this command and learn a few useful sub-commands.

This is not surprising if you have never used the Cisco IOS test command. I have met many network administrators who have never heard of this command. Based on my experience, this test is a very useful and powerful command in both the real world and laboratory environments.

As you may know, using Cisco IOS commands in the correct order is sometimes not easy. And after you use the correct commands in the correct order, can you know that these commands are correctly executed? This is why you need to test the command. Let us have a close contact with this.

To view the options that can be used for testing on IOS, enter in privileged mode and enter:

Router # test?

This command returns a list of options. For example, on a 12.3 Series router that runs IOS 3600 (6a), I have 34 sub-commands. On my Catalyst 3524 IOS switch, I only have eight sub-commands available. In order to help you understand what you can do, the output of this command by my vro and vswitch is provided here.

Router # test?
Aaa: AAA Authentication, Authorization and Accounting
Interfaces: Network interfaces
Memory: Non-volatile and/or multibus memory
Pas: Port Adaptor Tests
Scp: SCP test commands
Service-module: Service module sgbp
Virtual-Template: Virtual Template interface
Appletalk: APPLETALK diagnostic code
Cac: test the l2 cac functionality
Call: Call test commands
Ap-southeast-1
Crypto: Test crypto functions
Dsp: Test DSP functions
China site
Enum: test enum
Gssapi: GSSAPI test code
Hpi: host port interface
Ifs: ifs test code
Ipc: Inter-Process Communication Test Commands
Ipmobile: IP Mobility Test commands
Pasvc: PPP over atm svc Test Driver
Pm: Port Manager test commands
Pppatm: PPP over atm sss Test
Pppoe: PPPoE test commands
Sctp: SCTP test commands
Source-group: Test Source IP Group
Spanning-tree: Spanning Tree Subsystem
Ssl: SSL Test
Sw-vlan: Test VLAN Manager feature
Tpu: TPU test system
Translation-rule: Test translation rule table voice Voice related test commands

Router #

CAT1 # test?
Ap-southeast-1
Ifs: ifs test code
L2protocol-tunnel: layer 2 tunnel port
L3tcam: Test L3TCAM Manager
Spanning-tree: Spanning Tree Subsystem
Stats: Test stats
Sw-vlan: Test VLAN Manager feature
Tcam: Test TCAM Mgr

CAT1 # test

As you can see, you usually only use a few of the sub-commands for testing, especially on the vro. However, there are so many choices that you will be tempted to learn more about them-do you know which are the most useful?

Of course, the most important thing is what you want to test. When you are idle, I suggest you run this command and try all the available sub-commands.

However, remember that you should not use some of the test subcommands on a product-level router. For example, using test memory on NVRAM deletes all files.

Some Cisco router models only provide test commands for specific production lines. For example, a t1 test command is used on a Cisco 7500 series router.

In my experience, the following sub-commands are very useful.

Test aaa
If you configure vro authentication for a TACACS + or RADIUS server, there is always a risk that you may make mistakes and keep everyone out of the vro. You can use this command to test the authentication from the router to the AAA Server by using a specific user name and password. For more information, see Cisco documentation on the test aaa command.

Test interfaces
This command allows you to test a router without a network connection. In other words, run this command to test the vro before connecting it to the network. For more information, see the documentation on the test interfaces command.

Here is an example of this command:

Router # test interfaces
Test Ethernet0/0 [y/n]? Y
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Passed
No IP address for Serial0/0.
Skipping...
No IP address for BRI0/0.
Skipping...
No IP address for BRI0/0: 1.
Skipping...
No IP address for BRI0/0: 2.
Skipping...
Test Dialer1 [y/n]?
... Failed-timeout problem
Test Loopback1 [y/n]? N
Skipping...
Test Tunnel1 [y/n]? N
Skipping...
Test Tunnel2 [y/n]? N
Skipping...
9 interfaces: 1 passed, 1 failed, 3 skipped, 4 untestable
Router #

Test service-module
You can use this command to test the integrated CSU/DSU unit. For example, if you set a 56 k csu/DSU or T1 CSU/dsu wic on the vro, you can use this command to test this module. For more information, refer to the Cisco documentation on the test service-module command.

Test crypto
This command is useful if you are establishing IPSec Encryption between two routers. You can use it to test the establishment of an encrypted channel with a remote router without using any real production data to trigger the connection. For more information, refer to the Cisco documentation on the test crypto command.

Isdn test
This is one of several test subcommands that do not start with test. The isdn test call interface and isdn test disconnect interface commands are useful to any network administrator who uses ISDN. With these command lines, you can force the router to call any number for an ISDN and disconnect the call.

You can also use this command to completely disconnect an existing call, which is a better choice than using clear interface bri0/0 to disconnect a line, clear interface bri0/0 can cause confusion between the ISDN interface and the switch. Although this command does not require any dial-up list, you must ensure that the ISDN service configuration file identifier (SPID) and switch type are correct. For more information, see Cisco documentation on the isdn test command.

VoIP commands
There are also several available test sub-commands for VoIP. In fact, I will talk about different VoIP test subcommands on Cisco routers in another article. So if you are using VoIP, I suggest you learn more about these sub-commands; try test voice, test call, test port and test tone. For more information, see Cisco's documentation on VoIP commands.

Article entry: csh responsible editor: csh