How to copy configuration from USB to Cisco 9300 Flash?

[Zac88]

Hi,

I would like to know how to copy configuration from USB to Cisco 9300 flash?

Is there any guide for this?

Thank you.

[Leo Laohoo]

Command: copy usbflash0:<FILENAME> run

or

Command:  copy usbflash0:<FILENAME> start

[brselzer]

One last option would be copy usbflash0:<FILENAME> flash: if you just want to save it to the switch without loading it into the startup or running config. 

[Zac88]

How about the config file? Is it same like 3750? just copy config.text?

[Leo Laohoo]

Same thing.

[rgiorgi01]

Hi Leo,

 When I try to do it it says: Unsupported destination device/filesystem

 and I think is because flash: is ro and not rw

                   supported filesystem(s):
                   flash: ro flash
                   bootflash: ro system partition
                   usbflash0: rw front-panel USB
                   usbflash1: rw back-panel USB

[Alffeerew]

The flash is Read Only. It won't take a copy from USB to ROMMON.

It is possible to configure a ROMMON IP ADDRESS and Gateway in ROMMON and ROMMON has a TFTP folder. 

I would try TFTP.

[Alffeerew]

Other threads in the CISCO Community say to boot from USB, and then copy once booted.  While this works swimmingly, it adds an extra 10-15 minutes per switch.  

[Leo Laohoo]

Cisco has locked down write access to routers, switches and WLC when the appliance is in ROMMON to address a known Security Vulnerability in IOS-XE. 

Boot the firmware from the USB flash drive and then copy the firmware into the flash is the solution.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

---

@Alffeerew wrote:

Other threads in the CISCO Community say to boot from USB, and then copy once booted.  While this works swimmingly, it adds an extra 10-15 minutes per switch.  

---

True, but it might be done if you don't have sufficient flash to contain multiple IOS versions and once you're satisfied with the USB IOS, you shouldn't need to repeat this every future boot (once you copy the IOS).

Also, how ever you cut it, writing an IOS image to flash will take sometime, so whatever it takes, should be about the same.  I.e. do the copy before you reboot, or after you USB boot.  The only issue I see with a USB boot (or copying an IOS from it), the USB interface might still be running in the earlier (slow speed) versions and/or the flash on the USB stick might be particularly "slow".  In other words, using USB at all might slow whatever you're doing, vs. copying to/from on-board flash, or to/from on-network tftp/FTP/etc.  But, USB flash is generally much faster than having to do an IOS load via the console cable.

BTW, don't know about current Cisco platforms, but in the past, some used commercial CF chips for on-board flash, and you could sometime pop those in and out. 

[Alffeerew]

Thank you for the good information.   It is possible to go beyond 9600 - 115400 seems to work with the terminal program in conjunction with an IOS setting.  I am searching for a way to speed the console up in ROMMON

[Joseph W. Doherty]

"It is possible to go beyond 9600 - 115400 seems to work with the terminal program in conjunction with an IOS setting.  I am searching for a way to speed the console up in ROMMON"

Yes, that's often true.  Also, I recall (???) some platforms support a serial file transfer protocol more efficient (i.e. faster) than original Xmodem, but when dealing with modern IOS image sizes, it's still very slow.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

---

@Alffeerew wrote:

The flash is Read Only. It won't take a copy from USB to ROMMON.

It is possible to configure a ROMMON IP ADDRESS and Gateway in ROMMON and ROMMON has a TFTP folder. 

I would try TFTP.

---

BTW, some ROMMOM is updatable, but not via the ordinary "copy" command.

Config flash, should be writeable by the ordinary "copy" command, and something like a config file might be written using its startup name, which will usually be loaded during the boot process, or might be written as some other filename.  As most config files aren't too large, often when I do an IOS upgrade, especially a version upgrade, I'll make a backup copy of the existing startup config on flash.  (NB: version upgrades sometimes change config syntax, and newer versions can usually understand older config syntax, but if you need to regress to the earlier version, it will most likely not understand newer auto converted config syntax.)

[Leo Laohoo]

Not all USB flash drives are supported by Cisco kit.  

Maximum size is 16 Gb and needs to be formatted to FAT16.