Off-topic: Search engine wars are over
Recovering from expired one-time username
A reader sent me an interesting question:
Do you have any advice for resetting/logging into a router (2821) where the one time user of cisco:cisco has already been used?
I couldn't offer any better advice than performing the regular password recovery procedure. Is there another solution?
This article is part of You've asked for it series.
… updated on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 07:37 UTC
EBGP Load Balancing with a Multihop EBGP Session
Multihop EBGP sessions are the traditional way to implement EBGP load balancing on parallel links. EBGP session is established between loopback interfaces of adjacent routers (see the next diagram; initial router configurations are included at the bottom of the article) and static routes (or an extra instance of a dynamic routing protocol) are used to achieve connectivity between loopback interfaces (BGP next-hops). The load balancing is an automatic result of the recursive route lookup of BGP next hops.
Fat finger follow-up: use the key labels
Karsten Iwen made an interesting comment to my “Don't let a lab rat anywhere near a production box” post: you should avoid the SSH/VPN key generation mistakes by using key labels. He also wrote a post explaining the concept but since it’s in German, let me rephrase it in English.
Cisco IOS release 12.2(8)T added the label parameter to the crypto key generate rsa command. You can use this parameter to assign a label to your VPN key, for example
Build a VPN Across Your IP Network with Multi-VRF Feature
One of our customers had to provide end-to-end IP transport across their enterprise network for an outsourced video surveillance solution. We implemented a true VPN solution for them (the hosts in the enterprise network cannot access the surveillance equipment and vice versa) using the Multi-VRF feature available in all recent Cisco IOS releases.
Are you willing to talk about SP infrastructure optimization?
Don't let a lab rat anywhere near a production box
I tried to do a few simple NETCONF tests yesterday (I wanted to see how the router's configuration looks like when it's encoded in XML). I didn't want to start a lab for such a simple task and decided to use my home router. SSH was the only reasonable transport (you can't run BEEP with standard Linux tools), but it was not working on the router.
Off-topic: Marketing 2.0
It's almost guaranteed to be a winning combination in a Bullshit Bingo.
Generating syslog messages from Tcl
If you use Tcl to write Embedded Event Manager policies, you could use the action_syslog command to generate syslog messages. In all other Tcl-based environments (including tclsh), this API is not available, but you could use the syslog: file system to generate debugging messages.
Four byte AS number support in Cisco IOS
Last week IOS release 12.4(24)T appeared on CCO. One of the significant improvements in that release (I can’t manage to get enthusiastic about new kludges to support the SIP morass) is the support for 4-byte BGP AS numbers.
Finally an enterprise network that uses Cisco routers to connect to the Internet can use the new AS numbers distributed by the regional registries (assuming you’re brave enough to run 12.4(24)T on your production gear). The Service Providers using 7600 routers will have to wait … corresponding 12.2SR release is not yet available.