iOS Upgrade on old router

[LinuxAdmin]

Hello Experts,

we have 2 Router models Cisco 2811 which we wish to use. After configuring the 2, we noticed that there is a problem with NTP  Sychronisation on one of the routers. Upon checking the iOS Version we realised that both are having different iOS. We think that may be the cause of NTP Problem. We wish to first make the iOS on both the routers same. For this I suppose we should uprade the iOS on one of the routers,

On Router4 where there is no problem,

Cisco IOS SW 2800 Software (C2800NM-IPBASE-M) Version 15.0(1)M4
System image file : flash:c2800nm-ipbase-mz.150-1.M4.bin
Cisco 2811 (revision 53.50)

router4>show flash
-#- --length-- -----date/time------ path
1 32246408 Jan 25 2016 10:01:38 c2800nm-ipbase-mz.150-1.M4.bin
93548544 bytes available (32251904 bytes used)

On Router1 where there is a problem,

Cisco IOS SW 2800 Software (C2800NM-IPBASE-M) Version 12.4(3f)
System image file : flash:c2800nm-ipbase-mz.124-3f.bin
Cisco 2811 (revision 53.51)

router1>show flash
-#- --length-- -----date/time------ path
1     14901880 Oct 24 2006 05:31:56 +00:00 c2800nm-ipbase-mz.124-3f.bin
2         1823 Oct 24 2006 05:40:50 +00:00 sdmconfig-2811.cfg
3      4734464 Oct 24 2006 05:41:22 +00:00 sdm.tar
4       833024 Oct 24 2006 05:41:42 +00:00 es.tar
5      1052160 Oct 24 2006 05:42:02 +00:00 common.tar
6         1038 Oct 24 2006 05:42:18 +00:00 home.shtml
7       102400 Oct 24 2006 05:42:38 +00:00 home.tar
8       491213 Oct 24 2006 05:42:58 +00:00 128MB.sdf
9      1684577 Oct 24 2006 05:43:26 +00:00 securedesktop-ios-3.1.1.27-k9.pkg
10      398305 Oct 24 2006 05:43:44 +00:00 sslclient-win-1.1.0.154.pkg

39796736 bytes available (24219648 bytes used)

So as you can clearly see there are 2 different iOS. And we wish to now upgrade iOS on Router1. As this router model has already reached EOL, I am not sure how do I get the iOS version "c2800nm-ipbase-mz.150-1.M4.bin" 

I found out 2 methods. Maybe you all can confirm them,

1. Download this version directly on a Router using TFTP-Servers available on Internet.  (Not sure how though)

2. Copy the existing iOS from Router1 onto Router4. 

I think Option 2 looks better but I am not expert in Routers and ask you to point me to a correct steps to achive option 2 above.

Will this method really work?

Regards,

Admin

[Kasun Bandara]

use this guide for upgrade process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX5zvzH0cSc&ab_channel=TheCiscoNoob

also you can use step 2. you need to download ios file from updated router to your PC via TFTP server and use that to upgrade old version router.

[Richard Burts]

Admin

It should work to copy the IOS from one router to the other. Assuming that you have a device in your network that functions as a TFTP or FTP server you could use the copy flash tftp/ftp command to copy the newer version to the server and then on the router with the older version use copy tftp/ftp flash to copy the new IOS to the router.

It looks like you have enough space in flash to be able to hold both image files. That would be good if there turn out to be issues running the new version of code on that router. 

You should check the amount of memory of the router with the older IOS and make sure that it has sufficient memory to run the newer IOS. I have not found a reference for your specific version but this document for a release that looks pretty similar suggests that you will need 256. Here is the link if you want to see more details.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios/15_0/15_0x/15_01_XA/rn2800xa.html?dtid=osscdc000283

If there are issues about using a TFTP/FTP server in your network it may be possible to set up the router with the newer version as a TFTP server and copy the image file directly router to router. But if you have an available server I would suggest that you use it.

[Patryk Nieborak]

Hey,

I believe the easiest way is to go with option 2. From what I saw, those 2811 are having USB ports. You can utilize USB stick formatted to FAT32 (or FAT16) and just use copy command to move the IOS between these two.

TFTP is also an option, but requires more steps and it's slower, whenever there is possibly for USB, I'd rather prefer to go with that. 

Later on just correction of the boot statement, reload and you should be running on the new IOS.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Just a BTW, upgrading software on a Cisco router, to a new version, legally, requires either a support contract or new (initial) license.  I.e. I believe, EoL platforms aren't automatically exempt.

If you're using these platforms for personal lab use.  99.9999% chance the "software police" won't come to your door.

If you're using these platforms for business use, let me know about your business, as, I recall, there's a nice "reward" when the business if fined for license violation.

That out of the way, on the 28xx ISRs, you can, indeed, simply copy software from one to another, either directly (tftp), via USB, or a tftp/FTP server.  BTW, 28xxs can be "fussy" about the USB stick being used.  Also, BTW, the 2811, with the "correct" ROMMOM, can boot an IOS from the USB stick (they can also boot from a tftp server, too [any ROMMOM version, I believe, should support that]).

As noted by others, you need to insure you have sufficient flash space for the IOS you wish to install.  Often this requires deleting the running version (which doesn't impact the router unless it reboots w/o a "good" IOS version [one reason it's good to have an external server, as you can save already installed versions, and if you're really, really stuck, often can even reload an IOS using console cable]).