Configuring Interface Description : How to Configure Interface Description of a CISCO Router?

An interface description can be used to identify important information of a router. For example, you can specify the distant router, a circuit number or a specific network segment. It really helps the network engineer or the network administrator to find or remember specific information about the router. The description file exists in router memory but it doesn't affect the operation of a router. The CISCO router description can be included by maintaining or by applying a format. The CISCO router or any other router description can be included the following things:

• the purpose of the interface
• the location of the interface
• the devices those are connected to the interfaces
• circuit identifies

If the router description is configured then it provides great opportunities to the support personnel to better understand the problems about the interface or included to the interface. The most benefit is that they are able to faster resolution of the problem. This page contains the steps to configure interface description.

The steps to configure interface description of a CISCO router is described below:

Step 1:

Enter global configuration mode. To enter global configuration mode, you have to put the command configure terminal.

Step 2:

Enter the interface which you want to configure description. For example, if you want to configure the description on ethernet 1/0, enter the command interface ethernet 1/0.

Step 3:

Now, enter the command description and then write the information which you want to display.

Step 4:

Now, exit the interface mode to privileged EXEC mode. Press Ctrl + Z to exit.

Step 5:

At last, save the configuration by the command copy running-config startup-config.

Suppose, there is a central router of hubpages. To identify it easily to the network engineers or the network administrator, we will add the description of the router. So, to do this the configuration commands will be like the followings:

Router#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#interface fastEthernet 1/0
Router(config-if)#description Central Router of Hubpages
Router(config-if)#^Z
%SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by console
Router#copy running-config startup-config 
Destination filename [startup-config]? 
Building configuration...
[OK]
Router#

We want to put a short description of the hubpages central router. So, to do it, at first we have to access the global configuration mode. configure terminal command is used to access the global configuration mode. Then we have to select the interface that we want to configure. Suppose, we want to configure the interface description of fastEthernet 1/0 port. By entering the command interface fastEthernet 1/0, we access the interface mode. Now, we put the command description and then our own sentence to identify the router. Suppose, we write "Central Router of Hubpages" as the description of the router. Now, exit by holding Ctrl + Z together. To save the configuration, the last command is copy running-config startup-config or copy run start in short.

And that's all to configure the interface description of a CISCO router.

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