show run all to the rescue

This is gonna be a quick post!

Ever drawn a blank when trying to recall a specific command? You know what you're looking for and it's on the tip of your tongue. Well, I like to use the command show run all to look for the answer. If used right it can quickly find you the default of a command that would otherwise be omitted from regular show run command.

Of course, when looking for something specific, the command show run all won't help much, unless your objective is to wear down the spacebar on the keyboard. To find something specific it will have to be piped to either include some keywords or with the section command to filter out all the insane amounts of default commands.

Below is an example of the command used to show all the configured commands on interface FastEthernet2 on a Cisco 881 router. It lists all the commands configured on the interface that wouldn't be seen under normal circumstances.

AMBO-RT#sh run all | section interface FastEthernet2
interface FastEthernet2
 switchport access vlan 10
 switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
 switchport trunk native vlan 1
 switchport trunk allowed vlan 1-4094
 switchport mode access
 switchport voice vlan none
 switchport priority extend none
 switchport priority default 0
 mtu 1500
 no ip address
<further output omitted - it goes on for a while>

So, this command could be just the thing needed to jog your memory, when drawing a blank.

Also, if you like to read CLI output, like Joe Pantoliano reads the Matrix, go ahead and do a show run all and take it from the top - you will be amazed how many commands you never knew existed.