Set the Router's Clock, or Configure an NTP Server Most Cisco devices don't have an internal clock. When they boot up, they don't know what time it is. Even if you set the time, the router won't retain the information if you turn it off or reload it. First, however, set your time zone and Daylight Saving Time. Here's an example: router(config)#clock timezone CST -6 router(config)#clock summer-time CDT recurring Then, to ensure a router's event messages display the right time, either set the clock on the router, or configure an NTP server. Here's an example of setting the clock: router#clock set 10:54:00 Oct 5 2005 If you already have an NTP server on your network (or the router has access to the Internet), you can instruct the router to use that as the time source. This is your best option—when the router boots, it will always set the clock by the NTP server. Here's an example: router(config)#ntp server 192.43.244.18|time.nist.gov -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stop Logging Messages from Interrupting your Configuration Console Another personal Cisco IOS annoyance I have is when I'm configuring the router, and console messages just pop up on the line (which could be a console, auxiliary, or VTY port). To prevent this, you have some options. If you're on the console, you can either disable console logging with the global configuration no logging console command. Or, you can synchronize the logging messages with your command prompt. (I personally prefer the latter—I want to see what's going on with the router.) So, on every line, I use the logging synchronous command. Here's an example: router(config)# line con 0 router(config-line)# logging synchronous router(config)# line aux 0 router(config-line)# logging synchronous router(config)# line vty 0 4 router(config-line)# logging synchronous -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Changing the Timeout Interval for a Session You can change the exec-timeout on the line interfaces, for example, let's say you want to disable the default 10-minute timeout on the VTY lines. To do so, use the exec-timeout 0 0 command when in Line Configuration Mode. This keeps the router from disconnecting after 10 minutes of inactivity. router(config-line)#exec-timeout <minutes> <seconds> router(config-line)#exec-timeout <0-71582> <0-4294967> router(config)#line con 0 router(config-line)#exec-timeout 0 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prevent "Translating. domain server (255.255.255.255)" Messages after an Invalid Command is Entered on a Router (cisco_docid:46253): Why "Translating.... domain server (255.255.255.255)" Messages Occur. By default, when a command in user or enable mode is entered into a router and this command is not recognized, the router believes that this is the host name of a device that the user is attempting to reach using telnet. Therefore, the router tries to resolve the unrecognized command into an IP address by doing an IP domain lookup. If no specific domain server has been configured on the router, the router will issue a broadcast for the command to be translated into an IP address. It can take several seconds for the router prompt to return while the router waits for a response to its Domain Name System (DNS) broadcast. Note: You can also use the transport preferred none command on the vty/con/aux lines to prevent the router from attempting to resolve an invalid command into an IP address. The DNS information is available in the output of other commands. However, when you have to initiate a telnet session from the router, place the telnet keyword before the hostname, since the router does not telnet automatically when you type a hostname. Remember to add the ip name-server command to specify the address of the name server. ---------------------------------------- Added (not from original document) The way to handle this is to change the preferred transport method: router#enable router(config)#line con 0 router(config-line)#transport preferred none !VTY Ports router(config)#line vty 0 4 router(config-line)#transport preferred none The output shows the lack of a failed connection based on our mistyped keyword: ---------------------------------------- Disable Host to IP Address Translation to Prevent "Translating..... domain server (255.255.255.255)" Messages: To disable the default behavior of the router of attempting to resolve the invalid command into an IP address, enter the no ip domain-lookup command in global configuration mode: router>enable router#configure terminal router(config)#no ip domain-lookup router(config)#ctrl-z router#