Cisco IOS Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Creating Command Aliases

Problem

You want to create aliases for commonly used or complex commands.

Solution

You can create command aliases on your router with the alias command:

Router1#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router1(config)#alias exec rt show ip route
Router1(config)#alias exec on show ip ospf neighbor
Router1(config)#end
Router1#

Discussion

Unix system administrators have been using command aliases for many years to help reduce typing and save time. These shortcut commands allow you to reduce long or complex command sequences to a few simple characters. This is most useful for extremely common commands, and for commands that are complex or difficult to remember. You can create an alias for any command, including some or all of its associated keywords or variables.

Here we have created the alias, rt, for one of the most common commands we use everyday, show ip route:

Router1(config)#alias exec rtshow ip route

We can now use this simple two-letter command to display the routing table, saving time and typing:

Router1#rt Codes: C - connected, S - static, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2 E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP i - IS-IS, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2, ia - IS-IS inter area * - candidate default, U - per-user static route, o - ODR P - periodic downloaded static ...