Configuring Xshell Highlight Sets for Cisco devices transforms a dense wall of text into an easily readable, actionable dashboard. By applying specific colors to keywords like "Interface," "UP," or "Error," you can identify critical status changes in seconds. Why Highlighting Matters for Cisco CLI
A standard Cisco terminal is monochrome, making it easy to miss a single "down" or "denied" line in a long show run or show log. Effective highlighting:
Reduces Cognitive Load: Your eyes naturally jump to color-coded critical status indicators.
Speeds Up Troubleshooting: Errors, drops, and interface shutdowns stand out immediately.
Safety: Highlights like "Shutdown" or "No" help prevent accidental configuration mistakes. Step-by-Step Implementation in Xshell
Xshell allows you to create custom rules that trigger colors based on specific text patterns. Open the Highlight Editor: Go to the Tools menu and select Terminal Highlight Sets. Create a New Set: Click New and name it "Cisco Best Practices". Add Keyword Rules:
Click Add to enter a keyword and choose its color. Use "Regular Expression" mode for advanced matching (e.g., matching IP addresses). Activate the Set:
Once created, right-click your active terminal session, go to Highlight, and select your new Cisco set. Recommended "Best Practice" Highlight Rules
For a professional Cisco setup, use this categorization to color-code your terminal: Keyword Examples Recommended Color Critical Errors Error, Fail, Down, Disabled, Deny Bright Red Active/Positive Up, Established, Success, Permit, Active Bright Green Interface/ID GigabitEthernet, TenGigabit, Vlan, Serial Cyan or Blue Warnings Warning, Full, BPDUs, Collision, Discard Yellow / Orange Configuration interface, router, access-list, ip route Magenta or Purple Data Types IP Addresses (Regex: \d1,3(\.\d1,3)3) Light Gray / Bold Pro-Tips for Xshell Users xshell highlight sets cisco best
Case Sensitivity: Most Cisco commands are case-insensitive, but logs can vary. Ensure your Xshell rules are set to ignore case to capture both down and DOWN.
Regex for IPs: Use the regular expression \b(?:\d1,3\.)3\d1,3\b to highlight all IPv4 addresses in a neutral color like Gray to make them pop without being distracting.
Background Highlighting: For extreme warnings like "ADMINISTRATIVELY DOWN," set the Background Color to Red so the entire line glows.
A well-configured highlight set in is a game-changer for network engineers, transforming walls of text into readable, actionable data. While Xshell doesn't come with a "one-click" Cisco-specific theme, you can build a high-performance custom set to catch errors and verify configurations at a glance.
The following guide outlines how to create the best Cisco highlight set to boost your efficiency. How to Create Your Cisco Highlight Set To set this up, go to Highlight Sets . Name it something like "Cisco_PRO". 1. Interface & Connectivity Status (The Essentials)
Use high-contrast colors for these to immediately identify down links or administrative issues. UP / connected: Bold Green (indicates healthy status). DOWN / administratively down / err-disabled: Bold Red (immediate red flag). reset / line protocol is down: Orange (signifies a transition or Layer 2 issue). 2. Configuration Landmarks These help you navigate long outputs quickly. interface / router bgp / router ospf: Bold Cyan (defines the start of a configuration block). description: Dark Yellow/Gold (helps you find labeled ports). ip address:
Light Purple (makes actual addressing stand out from commands). 3. Routing & Logic
Identify protocol-specific keywords to verify adjacency or peerings. Established / Full: Bold Green (BGP/OSPF success states). Active / Idle / Init: Bright Red or Orange (BGP/OSPF failure or pending states). permit / deny: Green / Red (for ACL and Prefix-list verification). 4. Pattern Matching (Regex) Xshell supports Regular Expressions , allowing you to highlight complex patterns automatically. IPv4 Addresses: (\d1,3\.)3\d1,3 Error: (
(Highlight all IPs in a soft color like Gray or Light Blue). MAC Addresses: ([0-9a-fA-F]4\.)2[0-9a-fA-F]4 (Useful for troubleshooting Layer 2). Pro Tips for Xshell Highlighting Term Color vs. Background: Term Color
(changing only the text color) for most items. Only use a background highlight (like a solid Red block) for critical errors like err-disabled Case Sensitivity:
Cisco CLI is generally case-insensitive for commands but sensitive for names. Ensure "Case Sensitive" is for standard status keywords like Global Application:
Once your set is created, apply it to all sessions by going to Session Manager , right-clicking your device folder, and selecting Properties Appearance Highlight Set exact Regex strings for Cisco-specific features like AS numbers or VLAN IDs? Highlight Sets Settings 9 Jul 2021 —
Using Xshell’s Terminal Highlight Sets is a game-changer for network engineers managing Cisco devices. Highlighting critical keywords like down, err-disable, or protocol can prevent configuration errors and speed up troubleshooting. 🛠️ How to Create a Cisco Highlight Set Go to Tools > Terminal Highlight Sets. Click New and name it "Cisco Best". Click Add to enter your keywords or regex patterns.
To apply it: Go to Session Properties > Appearance > select your set from the Highlight Set dropdown. 🌟 Recommended "Cisco Best" Keyword Patterns
Use these patterns to make your CLI output immediately readable. Keyword / Regex Pattern Visual Style Critical Issues
down, shutdown, administratively down, err-disable, fail, reset, no Red (Bold) Positive Status up, established, connected, permit, active, OK Green Warnings warning, error, incomplete, mismatch, half-duplex Yellow / Orange Key Entities interface, hostname, vlan, router, access-list, route-map Cyan / Light Blue Network Data \b(?:[0-9]1,3\.)3[0-9]1,3\b (IP Address Regex) Magenta Informational building configuration, line, description, log Grey (Italic) 💡 Pro Tips for Cisco Engineers Error: (?i)\b(?:% ?SYS-|error|failed|fatal|panic)\b ->
Exact Matches: For keywords like DOWN, use regular expressions to avoid partial highlights. Use \bDOWN\b to ensure only the whole word is highlighted.
Engine Type: Xshell uses the Perl compatible DEELX engine for regex. If a complex pattern isn't working, verify your syntax against Perl standards.
Color Schemes: For the best contrast, use a dark background (like the Jellybeans scheme) with high-visibility neon colors for status indicators.
Automation: You can export and import highlight sets to share with your team or sync across multiple workstations. Color Scheme Scripting - Cisco , Juniper, Hp, Huawei, etc
Xshell is a popular SSH client for Windows that allows users to connect to remote servers and manage them. It supports syntax highlighting for various programming languages and configurations, including Cisco IOS.
This guide explains how to use Xshell’s Highlight Sets to improve visibility when working with Cisco devices (IOS, IOS-XE, NX-OS, ASA, Junos where relevant). It includes recommended highlight rules, regex patterns, colors, quick setup steps, and tips for using them during configuration, troubleshooting, and show output analysis.
| Pattern | Color | Example |
|---------|-------|---------|
| % (at line start) | Bright Red | %LINK-3-UPDOWN |
| Error | Red | Error: Invalid input |
| failed / denied | Dark Red | Permission denied |
| Down | Red Bold | Gig0/1 is down |