Cisco 881, No CD, No Config Guide! 1

[protocolpcs]

Bought a new Cisco 881 router (retail - sealed box) and it did not come with a software cd or a quick setup guide of any kind. I have setup Cisco routers before using SDM, but for some reason this new 881 doesn't even have an IP address. I don't have the experiance to use the command line interface. Can any one help me get this thing into a basic config so I can get started? Can't download from Cisco because only have a guest login. Is it common for a Cisco router to totally unconfigured right out of the box?

 

[burtsbees]

Can you get to a command line? Do you have a console cable? Also, I would use Tera Term as a terminal emulator---that's my favorite. PuTTy seems to crash sometimes, and HyperTerminal just plain sucks. If you can get to a command line, and you are using Tera Term, turn the router on, and after like 5 seconds (as soon as you see any output), initiate a break (ctrl-b in Tera Term), and you should get to the
rommon1>
Then...
rommon1>confreg 2142
rommon2>reset
Then the router boots up, bypassing whatever config is in there. Answer "No" to the config question, and "yes" to terminating autoinstall (if it asks). Then...
router>en
router#erase start
router#conf t
router(config)#config-reg 0x2102
router(config)#end
router#reload

You can then start from scratch. What interfaces does this thing have? Like, what are they called (ethernet 0, fastethernet 1, etc.). You can get this by
router#sh ip int bri

Burt

 

[protocolpcs]

After much study I found that the same model router can be configured differently from the factory. The SKU is what determines the config and contents of the box. When I bought the router from D&H, there was no choice in SKU. Cisco's marketing claims ease of use and GUI interface but the SKU I received only had enough config on the nvram to look for a TFTP server and no CD in the box. So today I found what commands I needed to get some basic config; IP address assigned to VLAN1, enable HTTP, etc... so I could use the Cisco Configuration Express and Professional GUI interface software. I only have guest access with my login at Cisco so I could not download that software from them. I was lucky to find the files on a website available for download. After installing CCP express to the router and CCP to the computer, I was able to get up and running. I still have much more to do, like Firewall and VPN. What do you think will happen now if I click the option to "reset to factory defaults"? Will it go back to its raw state or will what I have done created a default config that can be accessed with CCP? When Cisco ships the SKU with a default config and CD, where is that default config saved and how can I get one and put it there? It seems like it would have to be saved on the flash memory with a .cfg extension but I don't know how to create or get that file. Can anyone help?
Burt,
The ports are FastEthernet0-3 and FastEthernet4 is the WAN port. VLAN1 is where I assigned the router IP address.

 

[burtsbees]

Okay.
I was going to show you how to assign IP addresses to the interfaces, but looks like you have that covered.
The IOS (Internetworking Operating System) is stored on flash, and the configs (default, startup and running) are all stored in NVRAM. To get them to a file (cfg), you can get to a command line and tftp it...
router>en
router#copy start tftp
and
router#copy run tftp
and when you change the config register, it loads the "factory default" config---you can load this and copy it to a cfg file without destroying your current config, but you MUST do it by changing the config-register and rebooting! If you do it through the GUI by "switch back to factory defaults", the router erases your current config and overwrites it with the factory default config.
router#conf t
router(config)#config-reg 0x2142
router(config)#exit
router#reload
Then the router reboots into the default config, and then
router>en
router#copy start tftp

In order to telnet to the router, you must set a password on the vty lines. Just FYI, but I'm sure there's a lot m,ore you will learn by playing and asking questions. Ask anything you want---we'll all be glad to help!

Burt

 

[burtsbees]

By the way, you can open the cfg files in Windows with Word Pad and read them...

Burt