
Accessing the IPLink software CLI task list
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IPLink Software Configuration Guide
4 • Accessing the CLI
Configure operators and administrators
To secure the system, as well as to enable remote access to the system, you must create operator and administra-
tor login accounts. These accounts are valid system-wide. Operators and administrators can log in to the
IPLink software via the console or through Telnet.
Note
Only administrators are allowed to create new administrator and operator
accounts.
Password encryption
Unencrypted passwords can be stolen by hackers using protocol analyzers to scan packets or by examining the
configuration file—to protect against that type of theft, IPLink software encrypts passwords by default.
Encryption prevents the password from being readable in the configuration file.
Note
The password encryption feature prevents unauthorized users from getting
passwords by looking at the configuration file. Other types of encryption
that can be configured in the IPLink software (ESP, VPN, and IPsec) protect
data transmitted from the IPLink device.
The procedure for password encryption is the same for all the passwords (administrator/operator accounts,
PPP, DynDNS, RADIUS). Passwords can be entered in as follows:
•
Plain text
•
Encrypted text (for example, the password mypassword always appears in encrypted form as
HUAvCYeILWZz3hQvS0IEpQ== encrypted when doing a
show
command)
The command
show running-config
always displays the passwords in encrypted format. To encrypt a pass-
word, enter the password in plain format and retrieve the encrypted format from the running-config or store it
permanently into the startup-config (with the command
copy running-config startup-config
).
Factory preset administrator account
At the beginning of setup, IPLink software contains a factory preset administrator account with the name
administrator and an empty password. After adding a new administrator account, the factory preset administra-
tor account is automatically deleted and only the newly created administrator account is available. You can cre-
ate more than one administrator account, but there has to be at least one administrator account defined. If, for
some reason, the last administrator account is deleted, IPLink software automatically recreates the factory pre-
set administrator account with the name administrator and an empty password.
Creating an operator account
Operators do not have the privileges to run the
enable
command and therefore cannot modify the system
configuration. Operators can view partial system information.
Creating a new operator account is described in the following procedure:
Mode:
Operator execution
Step
Command
Purpose
1
node>enable
Enters administration execution mode
2
node#configure
Enters configuration mode