I've seen a few posts asking about good color schemes for network engineers using Xshell. The default settings are okay, but they don't highlight Cisco-specific keywords very well.
Alex fired up , the terminal emulator that felt like a natural extension of his hands. For years, he had stared at monochromatic text, but today was different. He had just imported a custom Highlight Set specifically tuned for Cisco IOS . He typed show ip interface brief .
4️⃣ Regex for Interface names ( Gi[0-9] , Eth , Ten ) and IPs. Why? Makes show run output 10x easier to scan.
Go to Tools > Highlight Sets or click the Highlight Sets button in the toolbar. Create New Set: Click New and name it (e.g., "Cisco_Best"). xshell highlight sets cisco best
For Cisco environments, the "best" highlight set typically targets operational keywords that indicate success or failure. Keywords / Regex Recommended Style Critical Errors administratively down Red Background Success/Up established Bright Green re-enabling discarding Physical Assets GigabitEthernet Logic/Status protocol is line protocol Italic Gray How to Set Up Your Highlights To implement these in , follow these steps: Open Settings : Navigate to Highlight Sets Create New Set and name it "Cisco_Best". Add Keywords : Enter your word (e.g., Case Sensitive if you only want to catch exact CLI output. : Choose your text and background colors. Advanced Regex
He closed the session, the Cisco Highlight Set saving him from at least three potential typos and an hour of eyestrain. In the world of high-stakes networking, Alex had found his secret weapon: a terminal that didn't just display data, but interpreted it at a glance.
Xshell highlight sets are customizable color schemes and highlighting rules that allow you to personalize your terminal emulator experience. With highlight sets, you can differentiate between various types of text, such as command output, error messages, and input prompts, making it easier to navigate and understand complex network configurations. I've seen a few posts asking about good
Highlight BGP , OSPF , EIGRP , and Spanning Tree to quickly identify routing events.
These terms indicate a down state, a security risk, or a configuration that requires immediate attention. down shutdown disabled fail / failed / failure deny drop / discard reject error / ERR / CRITICAL 2. Success / Active Keywords (Bright Green)
Xshell uses regular expressions (Regex) and literal strings to match text on the screen and apply colors dynamically. Follow these steps to build your custom Cisco palette: Step 1: Open the Highlight Set Manager Launch . Navigate to Tools in the top menu bar. Select Highlight Sets... from the dropdown menu. For years, he had stared at monochromatic text,
Alternatively, if you want to build your own, start with the template in this article and add rules as you encounter new output patterns.
Highlighting warnings ensures you don't overlook a potentially developing issue.