Upgrade of Cisco 2960 switch

[darren-carr]

Hi All,

My query is made up of two parts.

PART 1

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I have two Cisco 2960G (WS-C2960G-48TC-L) switches loaded with IOS version 12,2(25)SEE1. I am looking to upgrade the IOS of the switches so I can securely manage the switches using SSH remotely. Also in my environment I have six more of these switches that make up part of my LAN (access-layer) that are loaded with IOS 12.2(44)SE2. Now I am aware that the latest IOS is 12.2(53) but I don't have any requirement for any of the new features that this IOS brings. I appreciate (reading the notes) that there are advisories on 12.2(44) but I want to try to maintain a consistent environment across all of my switches. All of the switches perform only L2 functionality. which brings me to my first question...

- should I proceed to load 12.2(44)SE2 or should I be looking at a later IOS to load? I really don't have time to read the supporting docs for each IOS so am looking for advice from people who have shared a similar experience.

PART 2

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I have tested uprading the IOS on my testlab that is made up of 2950's. When it comes to upgrading the 2960 the process looks somewhat different. Instead of seeing a 'bin' file in the flash: I see a directory entitled 'c2960-lanbase-mz.122-25.SEE1'. What is the best procedure for performing an upgrade? Do I delete the directory (after backing it up to my TFTP server)? copy the new 'bin' file to the flash: (I have the space). I do not need or want to manage the devices through device manager so don't need the web based components of an IOS. I like to do everything through the CLI.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Darren

[david_casey]

Hello Darren,

Part 1: Use the IOS version that has the features you need.  If you're not currently being affected by any identified bugs in the version you have and that version does what you need there is no need to upgrade just because you can.

Part 2: Unless you have a reason to save on flash space I would go with the .tar file and use the command 'archive download-sw /overwrite tftp:///' to load the IOS.  This will copy and extract the .tar file into a directory on your switch.  If you don't require the ability to manage your switch using a web browser just include the commands 'no ip http server' and 'no ip http secure-server' in the configuration and you'll turn that service off.

Dave

[darren-carr]

David,

Many thanks for the prompt reply, this forum never ceases to impress me with the speed of the response you get from people!     

1. Thank you for confirming part 1. I will continue to load the same version of the IOS that I have on my other switches.

2. I have the relevant support agreement in place with Cisco that allows me to download the images for the switch. For the 2960G that I have there are four options. The most suitable option seems to be the 'LAN BASE WITH WEB BASED DEV MGR', seems the obvious choice as the other .tar file has no CRYPTO.

3. Lastly, given that there will be two versions of the IOS stored in the flash: how does the switch know which IOS you want to use? I saw something relating to the 'boot' command?

Cheers

Darren

[darren-carr]

Arggggh...ignore the last part of the post the /overwrite function will see to that part.....