IOS Image load in a directory or just file

[busheyscott]

i am going to update the ios image on cisco 2960's and was wondering if it really makes a difference setting the boot to a dir with the image in it or just booting it from the image in flash. i did notice that the html dir is in the dir folder

[Leo Laohoo]

If you are going to have only ONE IOS, then you don't need to because the switch is smart enough to search for the FIRST .BIN file.

[Collin Clark]

You have two options. You can upgrade the IOS that has the web manager (higher security risk) in the IOS so you can manage the switch via a web browser or you can update it with just the BIN file which is IOS only. If you have both, it load whatever one it finds first. The boot statement will tell the switch which image to boot. Some people like having two images in case one is full of bugs.

Hope that helps.