Did you know that the Cisco IOS offers 16 privilege levels
for access to different commands? Many network administrators who work with the
Cisco IOS never bother to think about the level of privilege they're using or
what that level means.
When it comes to the different privilege levels in the Cisco IOS, the higher your privilege level, the more router access you have. But most users of Cisco routers are familiar with only two privilege levels:
- User EXEC mode—privilege level 1
- Privileged EXEC mode—privilege level 15
Because of these limitations, most Cisco router users immediately type enable to get out of user EXEC mode. By default, typing enable takes you to level 15, privileged EXEC mode. In the Cisco IOS, this level is equivalent to having root privileges in UNIX or administrator privileges in Windows. In other words, you have full access to the router.
For networks maintained by just a few people, everyone typically has the password to get to privileged mode. But at some point, those small and midsize companies may likely grow, and that's when privileges become more complicated.
Many times, it starts with having a support group or less senior administrator who needs less access to something on the router. Perhaps they need to connect to routers to view the running configuration or reset interfaces.
In such cases, the person would need some level of access between level 1 and level 15. Remember the principle of least privilege—only give access to what's necessary and no more.
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