Upgrade IOS Image On Cisco Catalyst Switch or Router
Upgrade IOS Image On Cisco Catalyst Switch or Router
Anytime Cisco releases a new IOS image for its network switch (or router), it is recommended that you upgrade it. This article explains 7 easy steps to upgrade IOS image on a cisco switch or router. Since youll be upgrading the IOS image, make sure you have physical access to the switch and you are in front of it. Use a console cable to connect to the switch. Please note that the steps given below will be similar to both switches and routers. However this examples shows how to upgrade ios image on a cisco catalyst switch.
If you have only one cisco catalyst switch (non stack mode), follow all the steps mentioned in this document, but youll be doing it only on one flash card. First, verify the content of the flash cards, using dir flash1: command.
# dir flash1: c3750-ipbasek9-mz.122-35.SE5.bin # dir flash2: c3750-ipbasek9-mz.122-35.SE5.bin
As you see above, both the flash cards contains the current IOS image file, which is version 122.35.SE5 Verify what version of IOS image your switch is currently running. Most likely this will be same as the current IOS image file that you see in your flash card. As you see below, it is using 12.3(35)SE5
# show Switch -----* 1 2 ver Ports ----24 24 Model ----WS-C3750G-24T WS-C3750G-24T SW Version ---------12.2(35)SE5 12.2(35)SE5 SW Image ---------C3750-IPBASEK9-M C3750-IPBASEK9-M
In the above delete command, /f stands for force, and /r stands for recurssive. On a side note, you should be using some software to monitor your switch status. If you are not doing it install Nagios, and monitor your switches.
Once youve copied it, make sure the file is there on the flash card.
# dir flash1: c3750-ipbasek9-mz-122-55.SE1.bin
Just to make sure nothing went wrong during the copy, do a MD5 check-sum on this, and compare with the MD5 that you noted down from cisco website while downloading the IOS image. To create MD5 checksum of a file in Cisco catalyst switch, use the verify command as shown below.
# verify /md5 flash1:c3750-ipbasek9-mz-122-55.SE1.bin
If you are running two switches in stack configuration, do the same on the second flash card.
# copy tftp flash2: # dir flash2: # verify /md5 flash2:c3750-ipbasek9-mz-122-55.SE1.bin
Make sure to verify your interface and vlan status, to make sure everything is running properly without any issues.