IOS backup procedure for Cisco 3850-12S-S

[Ranjan Singh]

Hi,

Pls tell me how to copy C3850 IOS Software image to tftp for future ios recovery.

C3850 default configuration is install mode to boot packages.conf.

SW3850S-01#sh ver
Cisco IOS Software, IOS-XE Software, Catalyst L3 Switch Software (CAT3K_CAA-UNIVERSALK9-M), Version 03.06.0
4.E RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc2)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2016 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Sat 13-Feb-16 03:45 by prod_rel_team

Cisco IOS-XE software, Copyright (c) 2005-2015 by cisco Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved. Certain components of Cisco IOS-XE software are
licensed under the GNU General Public License ("GPL") Version 2.0. The
software code licensed under GPL Version 2.0 is free software that comes
with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. You can redistribute and/or modify such
GPL code under the terms of GPL Version 2.0.
(http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html) For more details, see the
documentation or "License Notice" file accompanying the IOS-XE software,
or the applicable URL provided on the flyer accompanying the IOS-XE
software.

ROM: IOS-XE ROMMON
BOOTLDR: CAT3K_CAA Boot Loader (CAT3K_CAA-HBOOT-M) Version 3.58, RELEASE SOFTWARE (P)

PNJSR-A02-MES-CORESTACK-SW3850S-01 uptime is 2 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes
Uptime for this control processor is 2 days, 2 hours, 25 minutes
System returned to ROM by Power Failure
System image file is "flash:packages.conf"
Last reload reason: Power Failure

==================================================

SW3850S-01#sh flash:
-#- --length-- ---------date/time--------- path
2 2097152 Jul 27 2016 12:20:20.0000000000 +00:00 nvram_config
3 82665136 May 16 2016 21:59:35.0000000000 +00:00 cat3k_caa-base.SPA.03.06.04.E.pkg
4 4913852 May 16 2016 21:59:35.0000000000 +00:00 cat3k_caa-drivers.SPA.03.06.04.E.pkg
5 33784816 May 16 2016 21:59:35.0000000000 +00:00 cat3k_caa-infra.SPA.03.06.04.E.pkg
6 43021636 May 16 2016 21:59:35.0000000000 +00:00 cat3k_caa-iosd-universalk9.SPA.152-2.E4.pkg
7 27417488 May 16 2016 21:59:35.0000000000 +00:00 cat3k_caa-platform.SPA.03.06.04.E.pkg
8 111180608 May 16 2016 21:59:35.0000000000 +00:00 cat3k_caa-wcm.SPA.10.2.140.0.pkg
9 1244 May 16 2016 21:59:44.0000000000 +00:00 packages.conf
10 4096 May 16 2016 22:05:20.0000000000 +00:00 dc_profile_dir
11 183714 May 16 2016 22:05:20.0000000000 +00:00 dc_profile_dir/dc_default_profiles.txt
12 616 Jul 26 2016 07:12:41.0000000000 +00:00 vlan.dat
1233539072 bytes available (308064256 bytes used)

[Reza Sharifi]

Hi,

On 3850 you don't need to use tftp.  There is a USB slot on the switch.  So, you can copy from flash to usb0.

copy flash:<ios> usbflash0

HTH

[Ranjan Singh]

Hi Reza,

You are correct but as per details..Will packages(.pkg) file copy in usbflash.

[Ranjan Singh]

Hi Reza,

I have following confusion with pkg File. 

1. Which .pkg file should i copy?

2. How to find .bin file in Installed mode?

[jdesanti]

Hi,

The switch will need all the .pkg and .conf files to run.

cat3k_caa-base.SPA.03.06.04.E.pkg
cat3k_caa-drivers.SPA.03.06.04.E.pkg
cat3k_caa-infra.SPA.03.06.04.E.pkg
cat3k_caa-iosd-universalk9.SPA.152-2.E4.pkg
cat3k_caa-platform.SPA.03.06.04.E.pkg
cat3k_caa-wcm.SPA.10.2.140.0.pkg
packages.conf

All those files are inside the .bin file, so my suggestion is to download the .bin file from cisco.com directly to the tftp server, and if required, you can push that file to the switch via tftp or usb, and once the image is in the flash memory of the switch, you can use the command "software expand file flash: <.bin image>" to extract the .pkg files.

[Leo Laohoo]

Pls tell me how to copy C3850 IOS Software image to tftp for future ios recovery.

Go to the Cisco website and download the IOS of your choice.  

[praveenrk1989]

Im also having a same issue here...im planing to upgrade the ios but before that i need to take a backup of my current ios...when i check the flash , i can only see .pkg files. when i try to download the ios from cisco website ,its showing as a deferred release so its not available to download...

So can someone give me a solution for this ??

[Mark Malone]

Yes got off the image your on , don't put it back on the switch as its been classed as unusable due to the amount of caveats and download a new stable version like 3.6.6

[praveenrk1989]

Im planning upgrade the ios to 3.6.6...incase it didnt go well as planned i
was planning to rollback to the previous ios.

[Mark Malone]

if that image is deferred I wouldn't use it at all I would upload too .bins , the flash in ios-xe has plenty of room compared to the ios switches , if it doesnt take the 3.6.6. it will roll back anyway to the next available boot statement , you can have as many as you want and set the boot statement like below example


boot-start-marker
boot system bootflash:asr1001x-universalk9.03.16.05a.S.155-3.S5a-ext.SPA.bin
boot system bootflash:asr1001x-universalk9.03.16.04b.S.155-3.S4b-ext.SPA.bin
boot system bootflash:asr1001x-universalk9.03.16.03.S.155-3.S3-ext.SPA.bin
boot-end-marker
!

[sbhadrav@cisco.com]

There are 2 methods of booting and running IOS XE software in 3850 switch/stack.

By default, the switches are shipped in Install mode.

Bundle mode: Bundle mode is where we boot the switch/stack using the .bin file. This is the traditional method of booting the switch where the switch extracts the .bin file to the RAM of the switch and run from there.

Install Mode: Install mode is where we pre-extract the .bin file in the flash and boot the witch/stack using the packages.conf file created during the extraction.

Note:Install mode is the recommended mode of running the switch. Not all features may be available in this Bundle mode

IOS XE installation and software rollback are supported only when the switch is running in “Install” mode. (ie: The commands “software install” and “software rollback”.)

Use “software expand” command to convert the switch into Install mode from Bundle mode. The steps are mentioned below.

Upgrading a stand-alone switch:

The packages and provisioning file used to boot in installed mode must reside in the flash.

Booting in installed mode from usbflash0: or TFTP is not supported.

Booting a bundle in bundle mode is just like booting a monolithic IOS image.

For example: boot flash:cat3k_caa-universalk9.SSA.03.08.83.EMD.150-8.83.EMD.bin

Hence, the boot variable should not be pointing to the .bin file. If so, the switch will boot in Bundle mode. The boot variable should be pointing to the “packages.conf” file in order for the switch to boot in Install mode.

Before doing the upgrade, we need to check the mode in which the switch is currently booted in.
C3850#show version | begin Switch Port
Switch Ports Model              SW Version        SW Image              Mode
------ ----- -----              ----------        ----------            ----
*    1 32    WS-C3850-24T       03.03.01SE        cat3k_caa-universalk9 INSTALL •ß Install mode
Upgrading from Install mode:
By default, switches are shipped in Install mode.
In order to upgrade the switch from Install mode, please follow the below-mentioned procedure.
•1.       Download the new image from the TFTP server to the flash / USB on the switch. (optional)
Copy tftp: flash:
(or)
Copy tftp: usbflash0:
•2.       Use the command “software install” to install the newly downloaded image (or) the image present in the network.
C3850-01#software install file <source>:<filename.bin> new

The “new” keyword is used so that that the post-install package set should contain only the packages being installed. The old packages file will be renamed for future rollback purpose.  Without this option, the post-install package set is a merged set of the currently installed software and the new packages being installed.

The source can be
flash:  or usbflash0: (or a sub-directory of these)
The network via tftp, ftp or http
NOTE:  When performing ‘software install’ on a switch with a source bundle that resides in the network, the source bundle is first downloaded to RAM on switch.  The source bundle is deleted from RAM when the operation completes.

Refer to the configuration guide to know about the other optional parameters of this command,

Example:C3850#dir flash:
Directory of flash:/
<<snippet>>
29511  -rwx   220716072  Oct 15 2012 12:57:59 +00:00  cat3k_caa-universalk9.SSA.03.08.88.EMP.150-8.88.EMP.bin
C3850#software install file flash:cat3k_caa-universalk9.SSA.03.08.88.EMP.150-8.88.EMP.bin
<<snippet>>
[1 ]: Creating pending provisioning file
[1 ]: Finished installing software.  New software will load on reboot.
[1 ]: Committing provisioning file
[1 ]: Do you want to proceed with reload? [yes/no]: n
C3850#
Once the installation is completed, reload the switch and it will boot into the newly installed IOS XE image.
From Bundle mode:
If the switch is currently running in “Bundle” mode, then we need to use the “software expand” command to convert the switch into the Install mode first and then install the new IOS XE.

The ‘software expand’ exec command is used to extract the package files and the provisioning file (packages.conf) from a source bundle (possibly the running bundle) and copy them to the specified destination directory in a local storage device.

This command will typically be used to convert from the bundle running mode to the installed running mode.

NOTE:  When performing ‘software expand’ on a switch with a source bundle that resides in local storage, the source bundle is first copied to the corresponding local storage device on the switch.  The source bundle used for the expand operation is left intact after it is expanded.

NOTE:  When performing ‘software expand’ on a switch with a source bundle that resides in the network, the source bundle is first downloaded to RAM of the switch.  The source bundle is deleted from RAM on the switch when the operation completes.

This example uses the following steps to prepare a switch for booting in installed mode, i.e., booting a package provisioning file (packages.conf)

Boot      in bundle mode using ‘boot flash:<bundle name>’
Can also boot from usbflash0: or via tftp

Use the      ‘software clean file flash:’ command to remove any unused package, bundle      and provisioning files from flash:
Use      the ‘software expand running to flash:’ command to expand the running      bundle to flash:
Reload      the switch
Boot      the installed packages using ‘boot flash:packages.conf’
Software Rollback:

The 'software rollback' exec command can be used to revert to a previous version of the installed software package set (i.e., an older packages.conf file)

This functionality relies on the existence of one or more 'rollback provisioning files’ in flash:, along with all of the .pkg files listed in the rollback provisioning file(s)

The rollback provisioning files are visible in flash: as packages.conf.00-, packages.conf.01-, etc.
packages.conf.00- is a snapshot of the packages.conf file as it looked prior to the last installation operation
packages.conf.01- is a snapshot of the packages.conf file as it looked two installations ago
And so on
When the 'software rollback' command is used, packages.conf.00- becomes packages.conf.  packages.conf.01- becomes packages.conf.00-.  And so on

Note:  If the 'software clean' command is used, future attempts to do a software rollback are likely to fail