Prime Infra 3.1 IOS Upgrade (not enough space)

[josef.kokal]

Hi,

i want to upgrade several device via Prime.
The device itself got 64MB space and the new image has about 52MB

After performing the image distribution Task via Prime and enabling the "erase flash" option (which hopefully deletes only unnecessary files i still haven't got enough space for the new image.

Before Image dis job

#dir /all
Directory of flash:/

1 -rw- 1821 May 10 2007 14:09:02 +02:00 sdmconfig-2801.cfg
2 -rw- 4734464 May 10 2007 14:09:42 +02:00 sdm.tar
3 -rw- 833024 May 10 2007 14:10:16 +02:00 es.tar
4 -rw- 1052160 May 10 2007 14:10:46 +02:00 common.tar
5 -rw- 1038 May 10 2007 14:11:14 +02:00 home.shtml
6 -rw- 102400 May 10 2007 14:11:42 +02:00 home.tar
7 -rw- 491213 May 10 2007 14:12:10 +02:00 128MB.sdf
8 -rw- 1684577 May 10 2007 14:12:54 +02:00 securedesktop-ios-3.1.1.27-k9.pkg
9 -rw- 398305 May 10 2007 14:13:34 +02:00 sslclient-win-1.1.0.154.pkg
10 -rw- 30560836 Apr 9 2010 12:42:26 +02:00 c2801-advipservicesk9-mz.124-25c.bin

64012288 bytes total (24133632 bytes free)

After Image dis job

#dir
Directory of flash:/

1 -rw- 1821 May 10 2007 14:09:02 +02:00 sdmconfig-2801.cfg
2 -rw- 1038 May 10 2007 14:11:14 +02:00 home.shtml
3 -rw- 491213 May 10 2007 14:12:10 +02:00 128MB.sdf
4 -rw- 30560836 Apr 9 2010 12:42:26 +02:00 c2801-advipservicesk9-mz.124-25c.bin

64012288 bytes total (32948224 bytes free)

So you see i would need to remove the current image as well to get enough free space.
Is there any option to perform this task via prime or do you have to remove the current image by yourself?

Br

Josef

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

Is there any option to perform this task via prime or do you have to remove the current image by yourself?

Neither option is suitable for the long term.  The long term solution would be to upgrade the CF from a 64 Mb size to, say, 2 Gb size. 

Now here's the dilemma:  Cisco DOES NOT sell 2 Gb CF.  My recommendation is to go to the nearest camera and/or electronics shops and get several brands of 2 Gb CF.  Try each and one of them until one of them is suitable for the appliance.  

[josef.kokal]

Unfortunately this isn't an option since these are devices from our customers
In addition to that such an investment doens't make sense in my oponion since the devices are already EOS EOL.

So it seems that i have to remove the current image by my own and update the devices via CLI :(

[Leo Laohoo]

In addition to that such an investment

What "investment" are you implying?  The price of a 2 Gb CF is dirt cheap.  

[josef.kokal]

Just for an IOS upgrade they will not invest anything.
In my opinion the upgrade itself is useless anyway since there are no security issues, bugs or some other issues with the current version but unfortunately this process is defined by some managers who dont have any clue about technical stuff.

Just one short question. For some devices i got 64MB flash space and the IOS is about 60MB.
So it would fit on the flash but on the downloadpage i can see that cisco says u need 128MB of flash memory. So is this just a recommendation or really necessary?!
(attached a screenshot as an example to show what i meant)

[Leo Laohoo]

So is this just a recommendation or really necessary?!

Let's say you have a "healthy" router running a good IOS.  One day, luck ran out and the router crashed.  During the crash, and before the reboot, the router will create a crashlog file detailing why it crashed.  Guess where the crashlog file will be stored?  In the CF.  

If you have a 64 Mb CF and the IOS alone is 60 Mb.  This leaves 4 Mb space to write a crashlog.  Not a lot.  

So let me give you a horror story as to what happens when the router crashes and, while attempting to write a crashlog file the router finds that there is no more space in the CF to write a crashlog.  Guess what is going to happen?  The router will reboot, unable to write a crashlog, crash again.  And again.  And again ... 

And this is what we call a crash-boot-LOOP.  It's a LOOP.  

Do you really have to follow Cisco's recommendation to use a 128 Mb CF?  It's up to you.  You own the network.  Not me.  Not Cisco.  

As far as I've known to use Cisco gear, I always use 2 Gb CF whenever I can.  It is a very tiny "investment" which we can always get the people who stock our stationaries to supply non-Cisco CF.