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Both lines match in the source, but the description Management Loopback line appears between them. Strict mode requires the matching lines to be consecutive, so the condition fails.
Choosing the right Match mode
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Requirement
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Recommended match mode
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Required lines can appear anywhere and in any order
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Loose
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Required lines must appear in a specific order, but may have other lines between them
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Sequential
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Required lines must appear in a specific order with no lines between them
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Strict
Common use cases:
The following are some example scenarios where each match mode is particularly useful:
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examples illustrate common configuration validation scenarios and the match mode best suited to each.
| Config to validate | Match mode | Rationale | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline configuration and security hardening - NTP servers, DNS servers, syslog , ...host, password encryption, telnet disabled, HTTP disabled | Loose | These requirements The required lines are independent of each other and may appear in different parts of the configuration. Only their presence matters. | |||
| Security hardening - telnet disabled, no SNMPv2, management ACLs... | Loose | Independent requirements with no meaningful ordering relative to each other | |||
| Firewall and ACL rules | Sequential | Rule ordering matters, such as when specific rules must precede broader rules. | Route, route-maps | Sequential | Match and set clauses The required lines must appear in a required sequencespecific order, while other configuration lines may appear between them. |
| Multiline MOTD banner, interface configurations | Strict | The required lines form a complete banner configuration block must be present and uninterrupted | Interface config blocks | Strict | Validate that a required set of interface configuration commands appears together as a consecutive blockand must appear consecutively without any other lines between them. |