04-08-2008 06:13 AM - edited 03-03-2019 09:28 PM
I have a new 7206 router that I will put in place soon.
In the meantime, I would like to take the opportunity to experiment with using the flash disk.
I have looked at the document on Cisco's site, but it is very basic.
I have a couple of questions:
1. My understanding is the boot image can be on onboard flash or the compact flash and by default the router will check on board flash first, then the compact flash, is this correct?
2. What are the most common usage for the flash disk?
3. Below is from another 7206 in production:
7206VXR#sh bootvar
BOOT variable = disk0:c7200-jk9o3s-mz.123-14.T7.bin,12;
CONFIG_FILE variable does not exist
BOOTLDR variable does not exist
Configuration register is 0x2102
7206VXR#sh flash
Open device slot0 failed (No such device)
It looks like there is no onboard flash on this router and everything is located on disk0:
7206VXR#dir
Directory of disk0:/
1 -rw- 1807 Jan 20 2005 21:20:58 -05:00 home.shtml
2 -rw- 26792036 Apr 03 2006 13:32:22 -04:00 c7200-jk9o3s-mz.123-14.T7.
bin
3 -rw- 93095 Jan 20 2005 21:20:58 -05:00 attack-drop.sdf
4 -rw- 270848 Jan 20 2005 21:21:00 -05:00 home.tar
5 -rw- 1187840 Jan 20 2005 21:21:02 -05:00 ips.tar
6 -rw- 3885056 Jan 20 2005 21:21:10 -05:00 sdm.tar
7 -rw- 1463 Jan 20 2005 21:07:42 -05:00 home.html
4. Did anything have to be done to this router for the router to boot (other than modify bootvar) or is this default behavior?
5. What is the upgrade procedure if I need to put an upgrade image larger than what this disk can hold?
04-08-2008 12:50 PM
Richard
1) Yes by default
2) Storing the IOS image if it will fit on the internal flash.
3) try "dir /all" to see all your filesystems but yes your IOS is on disk0:
4) See 1 but also you can specify which image to boot with "boot system flash disk0:c7200..." in the running config.
5) Get a bigger compact flash card or delete some of the existing files if it just a lack of available space.
Jon
04-08-2008 05:19 PM
Thanks jon,
Is there a step by step procedure (maybe one someone has done themselves) that I could use to upgrade the 7206?
I have a new 7206 and thought of saving existing image, downgrading it and then upgrading to original image to try it a couple of time and maybe document what works well, but I am not sure the exact procedure.
It makes me nervous to do something on a production router or switch.
04-08-2008 11:05 PM
Richard
I understand your nervousness but it is quite simple to upgrade. It is basically a question of
1) download a new image to either the onboard flash or the compact flash via tftp
2) Ideally if possible you want to keep the old image in case you need to revert to that one. If you have to delete the old image to load the new one then you don't need to do step 3.
3) Once you have your new image you can then set the "boot sytem flash.." variable eg. lets say you have just downloaded a new image onto disk0:
7206(config)# boot system flash disk0:c7200-js-mz.123-14.T4.bin
Double check to make sure you have entered the image name correctly, wr mem and then reload the router.
You may get some warning messages on reboot about certain commands not being compatable with your new IOS image but you can usually just ignore them.
4) When the router has reloaded do "wr mem" and you will get a warning about the config you are about save being with a previous IOS image. It's fine to just save the new config.
Jon
04-09-2008 02:51 PM
Thanks jon,
what are the commands to copy the image to the compact flash?
and how do I do the format to recover the disdk spaceas stated below?
what is the procedure to swap out for a larger flash card and can it be done while the router is online?
04-09-2008 04:10 AM
"5) Get a bigger compact flash card or delete some of the existing files if it just a lack of available space."
BTW: Often different formatting options exist for flash. Using the older ("erase"), deleting files doesn't recover space. Using the newer ("format") does reuse space.
PS:
As Jon correctly notes, flash is most commonly used for containing the IOS image, but it can be used for other functions, such as add on features, e.g. SDM, or TFTP server, etc.
04-09-2008 04:42 PM
What is the procedure to delete the existing files?
What if the boot image is the only large file on the flash?
You cannot delete the image that is running on the router can you?
04-09-2008 05:00 PM
Richard,
See the response(s) inline.
""What is the procedure to delete the existing files?""
delete disk0: (follow the prompt to delete the files that you no longer want) You may have to issue the squeeze command to free up the space if the router doesn't free up the memory space even after you delete the image.
""What if the boot image is the only large file on the flash?""
see the next response.
""You cannot delete the image that is running on the router can you?""
If you can delete any unwanted files in disk0 and make enough room for the new image that would be the way to go. However, if you have delete the actual IOS image to make room then technically you should be able to delete the IOS image on disk0 even if the router is currently using it. However, after you delete the image but you haven't loaded the new image the router reboots then it would fail to boot and go into rommon mode. So just be careful there and not let the router reboot before new image is loaded and boot system command is pointed to the new image.
HTH
Sundar
04-09-2008 05:06 PM
Thanks Sundar,
I have a new 7206 and wanted to try this procedure a few times.
Is there a safe way to downgrade the router to an earlier image, save the existing image and go throught the upgrade process afew times?
Also, what are your thoughts on upgrading IOS images?
Do you upgrade as soon as the latest revision comes out?
An as far as the T train,GD, LD ED releases,
Is the GD always more desirable that the ED relaease?
Do you have to always put a T train on a T train relase?
04-09-2008 05:19 PM
No problem Richard.
Here's a CCO link that should help you go through the upgrade process.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps133/products_tech_note09186a0080094c07.shtml
Since you want to downgrade the code the new (older) code mightn't accept some commands if it doesn't support those features. Make sure the downgrade code that you pick supports all the features that you are currently using. Use the Feature Navigator tool to pick the correct IOS image you need based on the features you are using. Here's the link for the Feature Navigator.
http://tools.cisco.com/ITDIT/CFN/jsp/index.jsp
GD code is considered more stable code. T code supports newer features that you mayn't find with GD code of the same version. If you can find a GD code that supports all the features you are looking for then go with GD code. If you end up picking the T code then go with the highest release in the T code. I have responded to the other post about upgrading the IOS.
HTH
Sundar
04-09-2008 05:40 PM
You are the man duder!!
Thanks Sundar
04-09-2008 05:33 PM
"delete disk0: (follow the prompt to delete the files that you no longer want) You may have to issue the squeeze command to free up the space if the router doesn't free up the memory space even after you delete the image."
BTW:
Good point about usage of squeeze command. However, I recall squeeze command wasn't supported on some of the older devices/images. Shouldn't be an issue on a 7200. Further, hopefully the flash is already in the newer format that doesn't require squeeze to reclaim space.
[edit]
PS:
Another point that might have been missed, bootvar only needs to be set if not having it doesn't select the image you desire. (The default is the first acceptable[?] IOS image on the default boot device.) Further, I believe, bootvar can point to just a device, where it will also select the first image on that device.
04-10-2008 09:39 AM
Thanks for the information, from the below taken from a 6509 switch, would this be a good assumption:
I can copy an upgrade image to the compact flash disk. It shows nothing on it and should be plenty of space. This will also allow me to keep the existing image in place.I could then change the bootvar to point to the compact disk image.
If I run into trouble, remove the bootvar command and reload, this will boot back to the original image.
Does all of that sould like a working plan?
Also, is there anything else that needs to be done?
This also means that I could copy the new image at any time I want?
6509#dir all
Directory of system:/
2 dr-x 0
1 -rw- 135584
12 dr-x 0
No space information available
Directory of tmpsys:/
6 drw- 0
5 drw- 0
4 drw- 0
1 dr-- 0
No space information available
Directory of flexwan-fpd:/
0 dr--
No space information available
Directory of disk0:/
No files in directory
63840256 bytes total (63840256 bytes free)
Directory of sup-bootflash:/
1 -rwx 41860100 Oct 14 2006 02:47:22 -04:00 s72033-ipservicesk9-mz.122
-18.SXF5.bin
65536000 bytes total (23675772 bytes free)
Directory of sup-microcode:/
0 dr--
1 -r-- 18353238
2 -r-- 6168850
3 -r-- 7402166
4 -r-- 315100
5 -r-- 376572
6 -r-- 309342
7 -r-- 375196
8 -r-- 356782
9 -r-- 692510
10 -r-- 681982
11 -r-- 746718
12 -r-- 846046
13 -r-- 1009326
14 -r-- 65318
15 -r-- 60490
37759636 bytes total (0 bytes free)
Directory of const_nvram:/
1 -rw- 4636
129004 bytes total (124368 bytes free)
Directory of nvram:/
1918 -rw- 135540
1919 ---- 24
1920 -rw- 135540
1 ---- 4
2 ---- 35
3 -rw- 0
1964024 bytes total (1825336 bytes free)
Directory of bootflash:/
1 -rw- 17891428 Apr 17 2004 00:25:52 -04:00 c6msfc3-pk9sv-mz.122-17a.S
X2.bin
2 -rw- 351438 Jan 31 2006 14:43:43 -05:00 crashinfo_20060131-194343
3 -rw- 346449 Sep 24 2006 01:07:36 -04:00 crashinfo_20060924-050736
4 -rw- 348970 Sep 24 2006 00:12:46 -04:00 crashinfo_20060924-041246
65536000 bytes total (45181192 bytes free)
04-10-2008 09:45 AM
Richard
Yes you can place the new image in disk0: and then set the "boot system flash disk0:
Bear in mind that you can enter multiple "boot system flash .." commands into the running-config and they will appear in the running-config in the order you add them on the command line.
Jon
04-10-2008 10:53 AM
Jon,
What would I do without you guys?
One last question on this,
What would be the reason to put mutliple entries of "boot system flash"?
The switch would always boot to the image which is first in the config correct?
And what would be the result with no entry in the bootvar?
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