Table Of Contents
Use the Cisco Web Browser Interface to Issue Commands
Cisco Web Browser Interface Task List
Configure the Cisco Web Browser Interface
Enable the Cisco Web Browser Interface
Change the Cisco Web Browser Interface Port Number
Control Access to the Cisco Web Browser Interface
Specify the Method for User Authentication
Use the Correct Hardware and Software
Access Your Router's Home Page
Issue Commands Using the Cisco Web Browser Interface
Enter Commands Using Hypertext Links
Enter Commands Using the Command Field
Enter Commands Using the URL Window
Customize the User Interface on a Web Browser
Benefits of Customizing Web Pages with SSIs
User Interface Customization Task List
Customize HTML Pages Using SSIs
Copy HTML Pages to Flash Memory
Enable the Cisco Web Browser Interface
View Your HTML File Containing SSIs
Display 8-bit and Multibyte Character Sets
Configure the Web Cache Control Protocol
Web Cache Control Protocol Configuration Task List
Enable the Web Cache Control Protocol on the Router
Monitor the Web Cache Control Protocol
Cisco Web Browser Configuration Examples
Using the Cisco Web Browser
The Cisco IOS software includes a Web browser from which you can issue Cisco IOS commands. This Cisco IOS feature is accessed from the router's home page and can be customized for your business environment. For example, you can view pages in different languages and save them in Flash memory for easy retrieval. You can also configure the Web Cache Control Protocol (WCCP) to handle Web traffic and increase the efficiency of your time spent on the Web.
For a complete description of the Cisco Web browser configuration commands in this chapter, refer to the "Cisco Web Browser Commands" chapter of the Configuration Fundamentals Command Reference. To locate documentation of other commands that appear in this chapter, use the command reference master index or search online.
Cisco Web Browser Task List
Use of the Cisco Web browser is optional. To use and customize the Cisco Web browser, complete the tasks in the following sections:
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Use the Cisco Web Browser Interface to Issue Commands
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Use the Cisco Web Browser Interface to Issue Commands
You can issue most of the Cisco IOS commands using a Web browser. This Cisco IOS feature is accessed by using the Cisco Web browser interface, which is accessed from the router's home page. (All Cisco routers and access servers loaded with the latest version of Cisco IOS software have a home page, which is password protected.)
From the router's home page, you click on a hypertext link titled "Monitor the Router." This link takes you to a Web page that has a "Command" field. You can type commands in this field as if you were entering commands at a terminal connected to the router. The page also displays a list of commands. You can execute these commands by clicking on them, as if you were clicking on hypertext links.
Cisco Web Browser Interface Task List
To use the Cisco Web browser interface to issue commands, use the commands in the following sections:
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Configure the Cisco Web Browser Interface
The Web browser interface is automatically enabled when you use ClickStart to configure a Cisco 1003, Cisco 1004, or Cisco 1005 router. You must enable the Cisco Web browser interface on all other Cisco IOS routers. Once enabled, you will be able to issue Cisco IOS commands to your router using a Web browser.
If you have any other Cisco router, you must enable the Web browser interface by altering the routers' configuration. To do this, perform the tasks in the following list. The first task is required; the remaining are optional.
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Enable the Cisco Web Browser Interface
To enable a Cisco router to be configured from a browser using the Cisco Web browser interface, use the following command in global configuration mode:
ip http server
Enable a router to be reconfigured using the Cisco Web browser interface.
Now that the Cisco Web browser interface is enabled, you can perform any of the optional tasks or proceed to configure a router using the Cisco Web browser interface.
Change the Cisco Web Browser Interface Port Number
By default, the Cisco Web browser interface uses port 80 on the router. To assign the Cisco Web browser interface to a different port, use the following command in global configuration mode:
ip http port number
Assign a port number to be used by the Cisco Web browser interface.
Control Access to the Cisco Web Browser Interface
To control which hosts can access the HTTP server used by the Cisco Web browser interface, use the following command in global configuration mode:
ip http access-class {access-list-number | name}
Control access to the HTTP server used by the Cisco Web browser interface.
Specify the Method for User Authentication
To specify how HTTP server users are authenticated, use the following command in global configuration mode:
ip http authentication {aaa | enable | local | tacacs}
Specify how HTTP server users are authenticated.
Use the Correct Hardware and Software
To use the Cisco Web browser interface, your computer must have a World Wide Web browser. The Cisco Web browser interface works with most browsers, including Netscape Navigator. Your Web browser must be able read and submit forms. The original versions of Mosaic might have problems using the Cisco Web browser interface, because they either cannot submit forms or have difficulty doing so.
The computer must be connected to the same network that the router or access server is on.
Access Your Router's Home Page
Cisco IOS software allows users with a default privilege level of 15 to access a predefined home page for a router or access server. If you have been assigned a privilege level other than 15, the Web page will display and accept those commands which have been defined for your user level.
To access the home page for your router or access server with a default privilege level of 15, perform the following steps:
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Note
The browser should display the home page for your router or access server.
The router's home page looks something like the Cisco 7200 home page shown in Figure 8.
Figure 348 Example of a Home Page for a Cisco 7200
To access a router Web page for a preassigned privilege level other than the default of 15, perform the following steps:
Step 1
Step 2
Table 10 lists the URL arguments you must use when requesting a Web page.
Table 46 Description of the URL Arguments
Issue Commands Using the Cisco Web Browser Interface
To issue commands using the Cisco Web browser interface, click the link "Monitor the router" in the first list of hypertext links on the home page. This displays the Web page shown in Figure 9.
Figure 349 The "Command" Field Web Page for a Router Named "example"
Enter Commands Using Hypertext Links
To enter a command using hypertext links, scroll through the commands listed at the bottom of the screen and click the one you want to execute. If the link is a complete command, it is executed. If the command has more parameters, another list of command hypertext links is displayed. Scroll through this second list and click the one you want to execute.
If the command is a request for information, like a show command, the information is displayed in the Web browser window.
If the command requires a variable, a form in which you can enter the variable is displayed.
Enter Commands Using the Command Field
Entering the command in the command field is just like entering it at a terminal console. Enter the command using the syntax documented in the Cisco IOS command reference. If you are uncertain of the options available for a particular command, type a question mark (?).
For example, entering show ? in the command field displays the parameters for the show command. The Cisco Web browser interface displays the parameters as hypertext links. To select a parameter, you can either click on one of the links, or you can enter the parameter in the command field.
Enter Commands Using the URL Window
You can issue a command using the URL window for the Web browser.
For example, to execute a show configuration command on a router named example, you would enter the following in the URL window:
http://example/exec/show/configurationThe Web browser then displays the configuration for the "example" router. To save effort, modify the URL in the URL window in the browser control bar instead of retyping the entire URL.
The difference between entering a command in the command field and entering a command in the URL window is that in the URL window, command modes, keywords, and options should be separated by slashes, not spaces.
Customize the User Interface on a Web Browser
You can customize HTML pages to display Cisco IOS command output and Cisco IOS platform-specific variables (for example, a router host name or router address typically used in router setup pages) for a Web browser. You can display this information using HTML formatted Server Side Includes (SSIs) that you insert into your custom HTML pages. SSIs are a Cisco IOS software feature described in the following sections.
Definition of SSIs
SSIs are HTML formatted commands or variables that you insert into HTML pages when you customize Cisco IOS platform configuration pages for a Web browser. These SSI commands and SSI variables display Cisco IOS command output and Cisco IOS platform-specific variables.
The Cisco IOS software supports two HTML SSI commands defined for customizing HTML pages: the SSI EXEC command and the SSI ECHO command. The HTML format of the SSI EXEC command is <!--#exec cmd="xxx"-->, and the HTML format of the SSI ECHO command is <!--#echo var="yyy"-->. (See the section "Customize HTML Pages Using SSIs" later in this chapter for a description of how to use these commands).
In addition to the two SSI commands, the Cisco IOS software supports several SSI variables defined for customizing HTML pages. SSI variables are used with the SSI ECHO command. There is one SSI variable defined for all Cisco IOS platforms (SERVER_NAME) and other SSI variables specifically defined for ISDN, Frame Relay, and asynchronous serial platforms. The format and a description of all the available SSI variables are provided in Table 5. (See the section "Customize HTML Pages Using SSIs" later in this chapter for a description of how to use these SSI variables with the SSI ECHO command).
The SSI EXEC command is supported on all platforms. The SSI ECHO command, used with SSI variables, is supported on all platforms listed in Table 11.
How SSIs Work
Once you have designed a set of HTML pages that include SSIs, you can copy these pages to a Cisco IOS platform's Flash memory. (See the section "Copy HTML Pages to Flash Memory" for instructions on storing HTML pages in Flash memory later in this section.) When you retrieve these pages from Flash memory and display them using a Web browser, any SSI command that was designed into these pages will either display Cisco IOS command output or display a current variable or identifier defined in Table 9. For example, the SSI ECHO command with the variable SERVER_NAME will display the current host name of the HTTP server you are using, and the SSI ECHO command with the variable EZSETUP_ISDN_SWITCHTYPE will display the current ISDN switch type you are using.
Benefits of Customizing Web Pages with SSIs
Using SSIs, you can customize one set of international HTML pages (for example, in Japanese) and copy these pages to Flash memory on multiple Cisco IOS platforms. When you retrieve these pages from the Flash memory of a Cisco IOS platform, current variables and identifiers associated with the platform you are currently using are displayed. SSIs save you from having to duplicate these international pages (considered relatively large images that contain 8-bit or multibyte characters) and store them in the source code for each platform you are using. (Refer to Table 9 to determine which Cisco IOS platforms support which SSIs variables.)
User Interface Customization Task List
To customize your HTML pages and view them for the user interface, perform the tasks in the following sections:
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Customize HTML Pages Using SSIs
When you are customizing an HTML page for a Web browser, type <!--#exec cmd="xxx"--> in your HTML file where you want Cisco IOS command output to appear on the browser page. Replace xxx with a Cisco IOS command that can be executed in the router's EXEC mode. (See the "SSI EXEC Command Example" section later in this chapter.)
When you are customizing an HTML page for a Web browser, type <!--#echo var="yyy"--> in your HTML file where you want a value or identifier associated with a particular Cisco IOS platform (for example, an ISDN or Frame Relay platform) to appear on the browser page. Replace yyy with an SSI variable described in Table 9. (See the "SSI ECHO Command Example" section later in this chapter.)
Copy HTML Pages to Flash Memory
Once you have customized HTML pages using SSIs, copy your HTML pages to a Cisco IOS platform's Flash memory. To do this, save your pages using a filename appended with ".shtml" (for example, filename.shtml) and copy your file to Flash memory using a copy command (for example, the copy tftp flash command). (Refer to the Cisco IOS command references for a copy command compatible with your Cisco IOS platform.)
Enable the Cisco Web Browser Interface
To view the HTML pages you have just customized, you must first enable the Cisco Web browser interface. To enable the Cisco Web browser interface, use the following command in global configuration mode:
Refer to the section "Configure the Cisco Web Browser Interface" earlier in this chapter for further information on configuring the Cisco Web browser interface.
View Your HTML File Containing SSIs
Once the Cisco Web browser interface is enabled, you can retrieve your HTML page from Flash memory and view it on the Cisco Web browser by typing the URL http://router/flash/filename in the URL window. Replace router with the host name or IP address of the current Cisco IOS platform you are using, and replace filename with the name of the file you created with ".shtml" appended. For example, http://myrouter/flash/ssi_file.shtml.
Display 8-bit and Multibyte Character Sets
Your Cisco IOS platform will automatically display 8-bit and multibyte character sets and print the ESC character as a single character instead of as the caret and bracket symbols (^[) when the Cisco Web browser interface is enabled with the ip http server command.
If you are Telneting to a Cisco IOS platform, use the following command in line configuration mode to display 8-bit and multibyte international character sets and print the ESC character as a single character instead of "^[":
If you are Telneting to a Cisco IOS platform, use the following command in EXEC mode to display 8-bit and multibyte international characters sets and print the ESC character as a single character instead of "^[" for the current Telnet session:
Configure the Web Cache Control Protocol
The Web Cache Control Protocol (WCCP) feature allows you to use a Cisco Cache Engine to handle Web traffic, thus reducing transmission costs and downloading time. This traffic includes user requests to view pages and graphics on World Wide Web servers, whether internal or external to your network, and the replies to those requests. shows a sample WCCP network configuration.
Figure 350 Sample Cisco Cache Engine Network Configuration
When a user (client) requests a page from a Web server (located in the Internet, in this case), the router sends the request to a Cisco Cache Engine (Cache 1, Cache 2, or Cache 3). If the cache engine has a copy of the requested page in storage, the engine sends the user that page. Otherwise, the engine gets the requested page and the objects on that page from the Web server, stores a copy of the page and its objects (caches them), and forwards the page and objects to the user.
WCCP transparently redirects HTTP requests from the intended server to a Cisco Cache Engine. End users do not know that the page came from the cache engine rather than the originally requested Web server.
The Using Cisco Cache Engine publication contains detailed information about the Cisco Cache Engine and discusses alternative network configurations.
Benefits of Using WCCP
Web caches reduce transmissions costs and the amount of time required to download Web files. If a client requests a Web page that is already cached, the request and data only have to travel between the Cisco Cache Engine and the client. Without a Web cache, the request and reply must travel over the Internet or wide-area network. Cached pages can be loaded faster than non-cached pages and do not have to be transmitted from the Internet to your network.
Cisco IOS support of WCCP provides a transparent Web cache solution. Users can benefit from Web proxy caches without having to configure clients to contact a specific proxy server in order to access Web resources. Many Web proxy caches require clients to access Web resources through a specific proxy Web server rather than using the originally requested Web server URL. With WCCP, the clients send Web requests to the desired Web server URL. Cisco IOS routers intelligently intercept HTTP requests and transparently redirect them to a Cisco Cache Engine.
When a Web Cache Control Protocol-enabled router receives an IP packet, the router determines if the packet is a request that should be directed to a Cisco Cache Engine. The router looks for TCP as the protocol field in the IP header and for 80 as the destination port in the TCP header. If the packet meets these criteria, it is redirected to a Cisco Cache Engine.
Through communication with the Cisco Cache Engines, the routers running WCCP are aware of available cache engines.
Platforms Supported
WCCP is supported on the following platforms:
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Web Cache Control Protocol Configuration Task List
To use the Web Cache Control Protocol, IP must be configured on the interface connected to the Internet and the interface connected to the Cisco Cache Engine.
The interface connected to the Cisco Cache Engine must be an Ethernet or Fast Ethernet interface.
To configure the Web Cache Control Protocol on the router, you must use the following tasks. The first task is required, while the rest are optional.
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Enable the Web Cache Control Protocol on the Router
To enable an interface to redirect Web traffic to the Cisco Cache Engine using the Web Cache Control Protocol, use the following commands beginning in global configuration mode:
Monitor the Web Cache Control Protocol
To monitor the Web Cache Control Protocol, use any of the following commands in EXEC mode:
The show ip wccp and show ip wccp web-caches commands display a count of the number of packets redirected. Use the clear ip wccp EXEC command to clear this counter.
What to Do Next
To use WCCP, the Cisco Cache Engine must be properly configured. Refer to the Using the Cisco Cache Engine publication for details on configuring the Cisco Cache Engine. Keep these important points in mind:
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Cisco Web Browser Configuration Examples
This section provides the following configuration examples:
SSI EXEC Command Example
The following is an example of the HTML SSI EXEC command used to display the Cisco IOS show users EXEC command output:
Contents of the HTML file in Flash memory:
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE> SSI EXEC Command Example</TITLE></HEAD><BODY>This is an example of the SSI EXEC command<HR><PRE><!--#exec cmd="show users"--></PRE><HR></BODY></HTML>Contents that the Web browser receives when the HTML file is retrieved from Flash memory:
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE> SSI EXEC Command Example</TITLE></HEAD><BODY>This is an example of the SSI EXEC command<HR><PRE>Line User Host(s) Idle Location0 con 0 idle 122 vty 0 idle 0 router.cisco.com</PRE><HR></BODY></HTML>SSI ECHO Command Example
The following is an example of the HTML SSI ECHO command used with the SSI variable SERVER_NAME (see Table 5) to display the Cisco IOS platform host name rain:
Contents of the HTML file in Flash memory:
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SSI Echo Command Example</TITLE></HEAD><BODY>This is an example of the SSI echo command<HR><!--#echo var="SERVER_NAME"--><HR></BODY></HTML>Contents that the Web browser receives when the HTML file is retrieved from Flash memory:
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SSI Echo Command Example</TITLE></HEAD><BODY>This is an example of the SSI echo command<HR>rain<HR></BODY></HTML>WCCP Configuration Example
The following example configures a router to support the Web Cache Control Protocol and to redirect Web-related packets from Ethernet interface 0 to the Cisco Cache Engine:
Router# configure terminalRouter(config)# ip wccp enableRouter(config)# interface Ethernet 0Router(config-if)# ip web-cache redirectRouter(config-if)# endRouter#%SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by console.Router# copy running-config startup-configAfter the router has been configured, use the show ip wccp web-cache command to verify that Web Cache Control Protocol is enabled and aware of Cisco Cache Engines. In this example, the show ip wccp web-cache command is entered immediately after the router has been configured. After a few seconds, the cache engine becomes usable, as seen in the second output.
Router# show ip wccp web-cacheWCCP Web-Cache information:IP Address: 192.168.51.102Protocol Version: 0.3State: NOT UsableInitial Hash Info: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFAssigned Hash Info: 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Hash Allotment: 0 (0.00%)Packets Redirected: 0Connect Time: 00:00:06Router# show ip wccp web-cacheWCCP Web-Cache information:IP Address 192.168.51.102Protocol Version: 0.3State: UsableInitial Hash Info: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFAssigned Hash Info: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFHash Allotment: 256 (100.00%)Packets Redirected: 0Connect Time: 00:00:31
