One of the things I don’t get to use alot is a Windows based Terminal. I remember the days when you Hyperterminal use to be apart of the Windows Operating System and you can access the console of Cisco equipment.
Today I will be using Minicom to access Cisco Router. It pretty straight forward and very easy to use somethings you will need before we can begin:
- USB Serial adapter.
- A rollover cable.
- A Cisco 2621xm router.(Or whatever Cisco related device you have.)
For Ubuntu users you must install Minicom via your Software Package Tool. I normarlly like to use apt-get.
apt-get update
apt-get install minicom
Once Minicom is installed you must have the Router turned on and the rollover cable must be plugged into into the console port and on the USB Serial converter then plug it into a USB port on your computer. My adapter has a green LED that lets me know that it is plugged in but in Linux you can check to see the kernel picks up the device by typing in dmesg in BASH. You should see USB Serial support inside the dmesg output and this lets you know that the computer sees the device.
Start minicom by using sudo minicom. After minicom starts up it will start up the terminal and access the console port only assuming that the modem setup part is correct inside minicom. A quick Ctrl-A Z and O will get you to a screen that says “Serial Port Setup”. Cisco recommends using these settings:
- Bits per Second: 9600.
- Parity: 0.(In Minicom it’s a 0)
- Data bits: 8.
- Stop bits: 1.
- Flow Control: No.
After you apply the settings inside Minicom you must close the application and reopen it back up otherwise if you keep on trying to initialize the modem it won’t access the console port.