VyOS is an open source router based on Debian. It does not feature a WebUI like pfSense or Sophos do, meaning you can only configure it via CLI. However it is incredibly fast and versatile.
Having no CLI means it's a bit harder to configure and not that easy to see the whole complete outcome, however it will teach you more about the actual networking than a GUI does and you have another reason to break something.
Having no CLI means it's a bit harder to configure and not that easy to see the whole complete outcome, however it will teach you more about the actual networking than a GUI does and you have another reason to break something.
Table of Contents
How does the CLI work?
Let us first take a look at the CLI. You'll find that it looks just like a Debian based server.
Let's cover some basic commands first. First it is important to know how to get help in de CLI. You can type ? and a list of all possible commands will show up. It is also possible to write that in command you are currently typing which will show all possible completions. (Please note that the ? is not shown in the console).
Now lets list some basic commands:
- clear console: clears the console screen
- show ?: show information about x
- configure: enters privileged mode. In this mode you can make changes to configuration. You will know that you are in configuration mode if the path prefix changes from "~$" to "#".
- set: set/add option x.
- commit-confirm: activate the changes you have made. It will activate the changes and THEN ask you for confirmation. This means that if something breaks and you lose access it will automatically restart (by default in 10 minutes). So make sure you wait a minute before confirm so you can actually test if the system works. Perhaps open a new SSH connection to see if you can still access the console (an open connection is not the same as opening a new connection!). Must be run in privileged mode (aka configure).
- save: save the committed changes into the boot file. Running just commit is not enough, it will not be saved when the system reboots. Use this to permanently save it. Must be run in privileged mode (aka configure). Only run after commit-confirm!
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