Xshell Highlight Sets Cisco |best| May 2026

Here’s a concise write-up on setting up Xshell syntax highlighting for Cisco IOS/IOS-XE configurations.

2. Using send string as a Notification

Pair Xshell with Windows native notifications.

  • In Highlight Sets, edit your "BGP Down" rule.
  • Go to the Actions tab.
  • Check Send string to status bar.
  • Enter text: WARNING: BGP Neighbor Down.
  • Check Flash window. Now, even if you are browsing Reddit on another monitor, Xshell will flash violently when BGP fails.

7. Tips for Better Cisco Highlighting

  • Background colors for errors (%BAD messages) – use sparingly.
  • Differentiate input vs output: Xshell highlights typed commands + received text.
  • Combine with Logging (File → Log) to keep colored logs.
  • If regex doesn’t match, test it at regex101.com (ECMAScript mode).

Highlight Sets are a powerful diagnostic tool for network engineers working with Cisco IOS, allowing you to automatically color-code critical status indicators, IP addresses, and error messages in real-time. Setting Up a Cisco Highlight Set

To begin, you must create a dedicated set for your Cisco devices: Open the Dialog Terminal Highlight Sets Create New and name it "Cisco_IOS" or similar. Apply to Sessions

: You can apply this set to your current session or set it as the default in Session Properties Appearance Highlight Set netsarang.atlassian.net Recommended Highlight Rules for Cisco IOS

For the most effective "at-a-glance" troubleshooting, use these common keyword and Regex patterns:

Secure CRT - How to add Colour highlighting for Cisco devices

Xshell allows you to create custom Highlight Sets to visually distinguish Cisco-specific keywords (like interface, ip route, or no shutdown) in your terminal. This guide provides a report on setting up these highlights and using Cisco's native reporting tools. Report: Implementing Xshell Cisco Highlighting

To improve readability during network configuration and troubleshooting, follow these steps to set up a Cisco-focused highlight set in Xshell. 1. Creating a Cisco Highlight Set

Access Settings: Go to the Tools menu and select Terminal Highlight Sets.

New Set: Click New and name the set "Cisco" or "Network_IOS".

Add Keywords: Click Add to input the Cisco commands you want to highlight.

Examples: interface, description, shutdown, vlan, ip address, show run.

Styling: Choose a distinct color and background for each keyword to make them pop against the terminal background. 2. Activating the Highlights

Session Settings: Right-click your existing Cisco session and select Properties. Terminal Appearance: Navigate to Terminal > Appearance. xshell highlight sets cisco

Assign Set: Select your new "Cisco" set from the Highlight Set dropdown menu.

Bold/Color: Ensure Keyword Highlighting is enabled to see the changes immediately in your session window. Report: Cisco Native System Reporting

For professional documentation, use Cisco's built-in reporting features to extract data from your network devices. Description Formats Available Traffic Loads

Monitors BPS, PPS, and call counts over daily, weekly, or monthly periods. HTML Table, CSV (Excel) System Reports

Collects core files, bootup logs, and process information after a crash. Text logs, Core files Security Reports

Snapshots of deployment status, health, and activity summaries (via Cisco Umbrella). Online Dashboard, PDF How to Generate a Traffic Report:

Navigate to your device's management interface (e.g., SD-WAN Manager or System Controller).

Click the Reports tab and select Basic Reports or Report Templates.

Choose the specific parameters (e.g., Time Range, Sites, Interface Statistics).

Select your output format (HTML for viewing or CSV for data analysis) and click Generate. Creating System Reports - Cisco

Recommended highlight groups (with example patterns and suggested colors)

Use Xshell’s Highlight dialog to add these. Put each pattern as a separate rule (regex recommended). Choose contrasting colors (foreground or background) and disable “Match case” if needed.

  • Interfaces

    • Pattern (regex): \b(?:GigabitEthernet|GigabitEthernet0/\d+|Gig|Gi|FastEthernet|Fa|TenGigabitEthernet|Te|Serial)\S*\b
    • Match type: Regular expression
    • Color: bold cyan

  • Status keywords (up/down/admin down/shutdown)

    • Pattern: \b(?:up|down|administratively down|administratively-down|shutdown|err-disabled)\b
    • Color: bold red (for down) and bold green (for up) — create two rules if you want separate colors:
      • up → green; (regex: \bup\b)
      • down|administratively down|err-disabled → red

  • Protocol/line states (connected/disabled/disabled by) Here’s a concise write-up on setting up Xshell

    • Pattern: \b(?:connected|disabled|active|inactive|suspended)\b
    • Color: yellow

  • IP addresses

    • Pattern: \b(?:\d1,3.)3\d1,3\b
    • Color: magenta or blue

  • VLANs and VLAN names

    • Pattern: \bVLAN\s*\d+\b|\bVlan\d+\b
    • Color: light blue

  • MAC addresses

    • Pattern: \b(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]2[:-])5[0-9A-Fa-f]2\b
    • Color: orange

  • Errors / %SYS- / %LINK- / %SEC- / %LINE-

    • Pattern: ^%[A-Z]+-[0-9]+-[A-Za-z0-9_-]+.*$
    • Color: bold red background or bold red text

  • Configuration keywords (interface, ip address, description, no shutdown, router ospf, access-list, permit/deny)

    • Pattern: \b(?:interface|ip address|description|no shutdown|shutdown|router ospf|router bgp|access-list|permit|deny|vlan|switchport)\b
    • Color: bold cyan or bold white on dark background

  • Timestamps (for logs)

    • Pattern: (?:\b(?:Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec)\b\s+\d1,2\s+\d2:\d2:\d2)|\b\d4-\d2-\d2T\d2:\d2:\d2
    • Color: gray or dim

  • AS numbers / BGP neighbors

    • Pattern: \bAS\d+|\bneighbor\s+\d1,3(?:.\d1,3)3\b
    • Color: purple

4. Advanced: Handling ANSI Colors

If you connect to newer Cisco devices (like Nexus switches or IOS-XE) that output colors automatically, ensure Xshell is not stripping them:

  1. Go to Properties > Terminal.
  2. Ensure ANSI Color is checked.
  3. Click Edit ANSI Colors to tune the default palette if the default blue on black is too dark to read.

Pro Tip: If you want to highlight configuration lines that are simply "active" (not negated), use the regex ^[^ !no].* to match lines that do not start with a space, exclamation mark, or the word "no". This effectively highlights active configuration commands.

Title: Enhancing Network Management with Xshell Highlight Sets for Cisco Devices

Introduction

As network administrators, managing and monitoring network devices is a crucial task to ensure the stability and security of the network. Xshell, a popular terminal emulator, provides a powerful tool for accessing and managing network devices. For Cisco devices, Xshell highlight sets can be particularly useful in streamlining network management. This paper will explore the benefits and applications of Xshell highlight sets for Cisco devices.

What are Xshell Highlight Sets?

Xshell highlight sets are customizable sets of keywords, phrases, and regular expressions that can be used to highlight specific text in the terminal output. This feature allows users to quickly identify important information, such as error messages, IP addresses, or configuration changes. For Cisco devices, highlight sets can be tailored to specific needs, making it easier to manage and troubleshoot network issues. In Highlight Sets , edit your "BGP Down" rule

Benefits of Xshell Highlight Sets for Cisco Devices

Using Xshell highlight sets for Cisco devices offers several benefits:

  1. Improved Troubleshooting: By highlighting specific error messages or warning signs, administrators can quickly identify issues and take corrective action.
  2. Enhanced Configuration Management: Highlight sets can be used to identify configuration changes, making it easier to track and manage changes to network devices.
  3. Increased Efficiency: By reducing the time spent searching for specific information, administrators can focus on more critical tasks, such as network optimization and security monitoring.
  4. Better Security Monitoring: Highlight sets can be used to identify potential security threats, such as login attempts or suspicious activity.

Common Use Cases for Xshell Highlight Sets on Cisco Devices

Here are some common use cases for Xshell highlight sets on Cisco devices:

  1. Highlighting Error Messages: Create a highlight set to identify specific error messages, such as "%Error: : Invalid input" or "%Error: : Inconsistent".
  2. Monitoring Configuration Changes: Create a highlight set to identify configuration changes, such as "Configuration changed" or "Write memory".
  3. Identifying Security Threats: Create a highlight set to identify potential security threats, such as "login attempt" or " suspicious activity".
  4. Tracking IP Address Changes: Create a highlight set to identify IP address changes, such as "IP address changed" or "New IP address".

Creating and Managing Xshell Highlight Sets for Cisco Devices

To create and manage Xshell highlight sets for Cisco devices:

  1. Access Xshell: Launch Xshell and connect to the Cisco device.
  2. Create a New Highlight Set: Go to Settings > Highlight Sets and create a new set.
  3. Define Keywords and Phrases: Define keywords and phrases to highlight, such as error messages or configuration changes.
  4. Customize Highlighting: Customize the highlighting options, such as color and font style.

Conclusion

Xshell highlight sets are a powerful tool for managing and monitoring Cisco devices. By creating custom highlight sets, administrators can quickly identify important information, improve troubleshooting, and enhance configuration management. With the benefits of improved efficiency, better security monitoring, and increased productivity, Xshell highlight sets are an essential tool for network administrators working with Cisco devices.

References

  • Xshell User Guide: Highlight Sets
  • Cisco Device Management: Best Practices
  • Network Management: A Comprehensive Guide

How to Set Up Xshell to Highlight Cisco Commands

As a network administrator or engineer, working with Cisco devices can be a daily task. When using Xshell, a popular SSH client, to connect to these devices, it can be helpful to have certain commands or keywords highlighted for better visibility and efficiency. In this blog post, we will walk through the steps to configure Xshell to highlight Cisco commands.

1. Understand Xshell Highlighting Types

Xshell supports two highlighting methods:

| Type | What it does | |------|----------------| | Keyword highlighting | Colors specific words (e.g., enable, show run, interface) | | Regular expression highlighting | Colors patterns (e.g., IP addresses, VLAN IDs, error messages) |

For Cisco CLI, you’ll want both.

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