Copying your firmware image to your Cisco Router from a USB thumb drive is totally possible, provided you jump through a few hoops. Namely, you need format your thumb drive using the FAT (FAT 16) file system which only supports partitions up to 4GB in size. A removable USB flash drive can also be used for backup purposes. In this lab, you will use TFTP server software to back up the Cisco device running configuration to the TFTP server. You can edit the file using a text editor and copy the new configuration back to a Cisco device. Assuming the usb port is not disabled, you would issue the command 'sh version' and allocate the usb flash, then you would use the command 'copy flashusb 0-9.' Instead if the usb port is disabled then you can enabled it by issuing the command 'no hw-module usb disable' and reload the router to take effect after saving the configs. I found that copy files one by one from tftp server to Cisco router flash is extremely annoying and inefficient. So what I did is to group the files I want to copy to Cisco router flash in tar format with 7zip, then use the copy command in cisco IOS. Router#copy tftp://192.168.0.10/IOS.tar flash: Destination filename IOS.tar? A much better solution is to use a USB stick. The process is very simple and much easier than using tftp. All you need is a USB stick that is recognized by the switch and a console connection. To copy the software to upgrade Cisco 3850 IOS: Copy the image file into the root of drive and insert the USB drive into the USB slot on the front of the.

1. Change the router’s config register to use the boot system helper.

rommon 1 > confreg
Configuration Summary
enabled are:
break/abort has effect
console baud: 9600
boot: image specified by the boot system commands
or default to: system2-C10K
do you wish to change the configuration? y/n [n]: y
enable “diagnostic mode”? y/n [n]:
enable “use net in IP bcast address”? y/n [n]:
enable “load rom after netboot fails”? y/n [n]:
enable “use all zero broadcast”? y/n [n]:
disable “break/abort has effect”? y/n [n]:
enable “ignore system config info”? y/n [n]:
change console baud rate? y/n [n]:
change the boot characteristics? y/n [n]: y
enter to boot:
0 = ROM Monitor
1 = the boot helper image
2-15 = boot system
[0]:1

Configuration Summary
(Virtual Configuration Register: 0x1)
enabled are:
break/abort has effect
console baud: 9600
boot: the boot helper image

do you wish to change the configuration? y/n [n]:n

2. Reset the router.

rommon 3 > reset
[Router will restart using the Boot helper image.]

3. Get a USB flash disk drive and format it using the Cisco router.

ROUTER#format usbflash0:
ROUTER#show usbflash0:
4. Take out the USB flash disk and copy the following files on it.

* ROMMON upgrade to support booting using USB Flash drive – C1841_RM2.srec.123-8r.T9
* Cisco IOS image – c1841-ipbase-mz.124-6.T1.bin
5. After copying, re-insert the USB disk back to the router.

ROUTER#dir usbflash0:
Directory of usbflash0:/
1 -rw- 876981 Aug 29 2008 14:58:02 +00:00 C1841_RM2.srec.123-8r.T9
2 -rw- 15723844 Aug 29 2008 14:14:40 +00:00 c1841-ipbase-mz.124-6.T1.bin
1031503872 bytes total (1010958336 bytes free)
6. Upgrade the router.

ROUTER#upgrade rom-monitor file usbflash0:C1841_RM2.srec.123-8r.T9
This command will result in a ‘power-on reset’ of the router!
Continue? [yes/no]: y

[Router will reload.]
7. Return the config register back to the default setting.

Cisco Usb Flash Format

ROUTER(config)#config-register 0x2102
ROUTER(config)#

Contents

Cisco Copy From Usb To Flash

Introduction

This document explains how to copy a system image from one device to another within the same router, and from one router to another.

Prerequisites

Requirements

There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used

This document is not restricted to specific software and hardware versions. The platforms used for the purpose of this document are Cisco 2500 series routers and Cisco 3600 series routers.

Conventions

Refer to Cisco Technical Tips Conventions for more information on document conventions.

Copying from Device to Device Inside the Same Router

The table below provides command options for copying a system image from one device to another (methods vary according to different platforms):

Command Summary

The table below lists the various locations to which you can copy an image from a TFTP server. These options vary according to different platforms. Refer to Using URL Prefixes for more information and in order to learn more about each of these options.

The three most common commands used for image copying are:

• copy tftp flash

• copy rcp flash

• copy slot0: slot1:

The example below illustrates the procedure to follow for copying the system image from one device to another (for example, from one slot/disk to another slot/disk) on Cisco 3600 series routers.

Detailed Example

The copy command shown below is used to copy the system image file from one device to another. In the following example, the system image is copied from slot0 to slot1.

Copying From One Router to Another

Below are the steps to follow for copying the Cisco IOS software image from a router acting as TFTP server to another router. Both routers in this example are Cisco 2500 series routers. In this example, Router1 is the TFTP server and Router2 is the router on which the Cisco IOS software image is being copied to.

Before you begin, verify the connectivity between Router1 and Router2 using the ping command.

1. Check the image size on Router1 with the show flash command.

2. Check the image size on Router2 with the show flash command to verify if enough space is available on Router2 for the system image file to be copied.

   Note: If there is enough space to copy the system image file, then the original one can be retained and the new file can be copied in the additional memory space. If there is not enough space available, as in this case, then the existing file from the Flash is erased while downloading a new one. It is a good practice to backup the existing system image to the TFTP server using the copy flash tftp command.

3. Configure Router1 as the TFTP server using the configure terminal command.

   Note: The options given above for the tftp-server command may vary for different platforms.

4. When the TFTP server is configured, download the specified image from Router1 to Router2 using the copy tftp flash command.

5. Verify the Flash for the new system image on Router2.

   * The router only reloads for the Run-from-flash systems. For more details, see Copying to Flash Memory for Run-from-Flash Systems

Note: In order to copy a Startup-config file from one device to another, refer to Copying Configuration Files By Using TFTP.

Related Information