Junos® OS For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Defining How You Want Devices to Work

Configuration mode is all about setting up how your device works in your network. When you configure your device, you define its settings for the specifics of your network operations. This process includes specifying the addresses to use, configuring the management console, setting up user accounts and permissions, applying routing and switching protocols, and implementing security measures. Each statement configures different functions of the device that direct the particular properties of device operation.

The following sections describe the configuration process; introduce the commands to set up, change, and delete configuration statements; and explain two ways to make these statements active in your device.

Understanding the configuration process

Perhaps you're among the unfortunate with a story to tell about your worst configuration nightmare, how during a bleary-eyed 3 a.m. trouble-call, you made matters worse with some fat-thumb move. Or maybe it's about the time you mixed up the exact order of your line-by-line command entries and found yourself with more to clean up. (Ever remember adding security to a remote box from a tradeshow, only to find that the new firewall locked you out of the very interface that you were using to get into the box?)

Whatever your story, you're not alone. Many different studies show that more than 60 percent of network downtime can be attributed to human factors (a.k.a., absent-minded errors).

Fortunately, ...