Best practices before maintenance Catalyst 6000 shutdown

[jmprats]

Hi, we know a Catalyst 6500 normally never shutdowns or restart. Always is on.

So what is supposed I have to do before a maintenance shutdown?

Is it necessary to verify the ios image?

If the catalyst 6500 boots from a flash PC card, is it necessary to reformat the flash pc card and upload a "fresh" ios image?

Over the years or months (without reboots), can the flash pc card or the ios image be corrupted?

What are the best maintenance practices about ios image and flash pc card?

I think reboots of these devices are quite dangerous. In fact, in the last shutdown, one MSFC2 haven't booted anymore for a corrupted NVRAM

Thanks

[Jon Marshall]

things to do -

1) save the configuration and make sure you have a copy of it

2) if possible have a spare flash card with the IOS on it rather then format the existing card. It's a lot easier to simply try with a new flash card and then revert back to your original flash card than having to keep reformatting.

3) If you are thinking of upgrading the IOS then check the release notes to make sure -

a) it has all the features you are using

b) all your linecards are still supported

Generally speaking 6500 switches are resilient but i have seen both supervisors and modules come up faulty so if at all possible it is best to have spares for both although i appreciate this may not be an option.

Jon

[Leo Laohoo]

can the flash pc card or the ios image be corrupted?

Yes.  IT's possible.  Before the shutdown, run an MD5 hash and compare the values.  The command is:  verify /md5

[gerald.suiza]

to add to what leo posted..if you have access to dowload IOS images i would get the MD5 checksum from the cisco IOS download site then compare that to the actual md5 of your IOS on the switch

[Leo Laohoo]

Thanks for the ratings.

[gerald.suiza]

thanks too