# How to get past network device introductory menu

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-get-past-network-device-introductory-menu/30848>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Created:** [July 23, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-get-past-network-device-introductory-menu/30848 "2019-07-23T15:50:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Pete\_Siemsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/85e7bf/32.png) [@Pete\_Siemsen](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Pete_Siemsen)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-get-past-network-device-introductory-menu/30848/1 "2019-07-23T15:50:52Z")

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I’m using Ansible to talk to several Cisco devices. Most work as expected, but some of our terminal servers have an introductory menu. When I ssh to these devices, I don’t immediately get a prompt. Instead, I have to select an item from the menu, then I get a CLI prompt.

For example, when I use ssh manually to access one of these devices, it looks like this:

> **Authorized Users Only**
> 
> **Main Menu**
> 
> **1 Exit from**
> 
> **2 Close “active” connection**
> 
> **3 Open CLI**
> 
> **4 Connect to an ethernet switch in closet 1**
> 
> **5 Connect to an ethernet switch in closet 2**
> 
> **6 Connect to a test-bed device**
> 
> **7 Connect to a dial-out modem**
> 
> **8 Connect to a host**
> 
> **3**
> 
> **#**

When I use Ansible to ssh to these devices, Ansible times out, which isn’t a big surprise.

When using Ansible, how can I get past the menu?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ganeshrn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/ganeshrn/32/1021_2.png) [@ganeshrn](https://forum.ansible.com/u/ganeshrn)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-get-past-network-device-introductory-menu/30848/2 "2019-07-24T13:17:16Z")

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It is currently not supported. However, I have raised a feature PR to add this support

Refer: [https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/59525](https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/59525)

Please test this PR branch in your environment and comment on the PR if it works for you or not.