CCNA2

MODULE 5
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 Determine how a Cisco device locates and loads the Cisco IOS
 Use the boot system command
 Identify the configuration register values
 Briefly describe the files used by the Cisco IOS and their functions
 List the locations on the router of the different file types
 Briefly describe the parts of the IOS name
 Save and restore configuration files using TFTP and copy-and-paste
 Load an IOS image using TFTP
 Load an IOS image using XModem
 Verify the file system using show commands
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 Identify the stages of the router boot

sequence
 The startup routines must do the following:
– Test the router hardware.
– Find and load the Cisco IOS software.
– Find and apply configuration statements,
including protocol functions and interface
addresses
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 How a Cisco device locates and loads IOS

– The default source for Cisco IOS software
depends on the hardware platform, but most
commonly the router looks to the boot system
commands saved in NVRAM
– Cisco IOS software allows several alternatives to
be used. Other sources can be specified for the
software, or the router can use its own fallback
sequence to load the software
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 ROM – If flash memory is corrupted and the

network server fails to load the image,
booting from ROM is the final bootstrap
option in software. However, the system
image in ROM will likely be a subset of the
Cisco IOS that lacks the protocols, features
and configurations of the full Cisco IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS
 Troubleshooting IOS boot failure
 In the event that the router does not boot
properly, there are several things that could be
wrong:
 Configuration file has missing or incorrect boot
system statement
 Incorrect configuration register value
 Corrupted flash image
 Hardware failure
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 When the router boots, it looks in the

configuration file for a boot system
statement. This boot system statement can
force the router to boot from another image
instead of the IOS in flash.
 An incorrect configuration register setting will
prevent the IOS from loading from flash
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 The value in the configuration register tells

the router where to get the IOS
 This can be confirmed by using the show
version command and looking at the last line
for the configuration register
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 To identify the different versions, Cisco has a

naming convention for IOS files. This IOS
naming convention uses different fields in the
name. Among the fields are the hardware
platform identification, the feature set
identification, and the numerical release
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS
 The first part of the Cisco IOS file name identifies the
hardware platform for which this image is designed.
 The second part of the IOS file name identifies the
various features that this file contains. There are
many different features to choose from. These
features are packaged in "software images". Each
feature set contains a specific subset of Cisco IOS
features
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 The third part of the file name indicates the

file format. It specifies if the IOS is stored in
flash in a compressed format and whether
the IOS is relocatable
 The fourth part of the file name identifies the
release of the IOS. As Cisco develops newer
versions of the IOS, the numerical version
number increases.
MANAGING CISCO IOS
 Managing configuration files using TFTP
– Enter the command copy running-config tftp.
– At the prompt, enter the IP address of the TFTP
server to store the configuration file.
– Enter the name to assign to the configuration file
or accept the default name.
– Confirm the choices by typing yes each time.
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS
 Enter the command copy tftp running-config.
 At the prompt, select a host or network configuration
file.
 At the system prompt, enter the IP address of the
TFTP server where the configuration file is located.
 At the system prompt, enter the name of the
configuration file or accept the default name.
 Confirm the configuration filename and the server
address that the system supplies.
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 Managing configuration files using copy

and paste
– Perform the following to capture the configuration
using the text displayed on the HyperTerminal
screen to a text file
MANAGING CISCO IOS
 Select Transfer
 Select Capture Text
 Specify the name for the text file to capture the configuration
 Select Start to start capturing text
 Display the configuration to the screen by entering show
running-config
 Press the space bar when each "-More -" prompt appears
 When the complete configuration has been displayed, stop
the capture by:
 Select Transfer
 Select Capture Text
 Select Stop
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 After the capture is complete, the

configuration file needs to be edited to
remove extra text. To create this in a form to
be “pasted” back into the router, remove any
unnecessary information from the captured
configuration
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 The configuration file can be edited from a

text editor such as Notepad. To edit the file
from Notepad click on File > Open. Find the
captured file and select it. Click Open.
 The lines that need to be deleted contain
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 show running-config
 Building configuration...
 Current configuration:
 - More -
 Any lines that appear after the word "End"
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 HyperTerminal can be used to restore a

configuration. The clean backup of the
configuration can be copied into the router.
MANAGING CISCO IOS
 Enter router global configuration mode.
 From HyperTerminal, click on Transfer > Send Text File.
 Select the name of the file for the saved backup configuration.
 The lines of the file will be entered into the router as if they
were being typed.
 Observe any errors.
 After the configuration is entered, press Ctrl-Z key to exit global
configuration mode.
 Restore the startup configuration with copy running-config
startup-config.
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 Managing IOS images using TFTP

 Occasionally the router will need to have the
IOS upgraded or restored
 This server should have a TFTP service
running. The IOS backup can be initiated
from the privileged EXEC mode with the
copy flash tftp command
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 Managing IOS images using Xmodem

 If the IOS image in flash has been erased or
corrupted, the IOS may need to be restored
from the ROM monitor mode (ROMmon).
 In many of the Cisco hardware architectures,
the ROMmon mode is identified from the
rommon 1 > prompt.
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 ROMMON Mode
– When the Router starts showing “System
Bootstrap, Version … “ on the Hyper terminal
screen, Press the CTRL key and the Break key
together
– The Router will enter the Rommon mode
– Rommon 1>
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 If an image is located that appears to be

valid, an attempt should be made to boot
from that image. This is done using boot
flash: command. For example if the image
name was “c2600-is-mz.121-5”, the
command would be:
 rommon 1>boot flash:c2600-is-mz.121-5
MANAGING CISCO IOS

 If the router will not properly boot from the

image or there is no IOS image, a new IOS
will need to be downloaded. The IOS file may
be recovered using either Xmodem to restore
the image through the console, or
downloading the image using TFTP from the
ROMmon mode.
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS
MANAGING CISCO IOS