Step 1: Make sure the IOS is on the Cisco USB Drive

1. Cisco Boot From Usb
2. Copy From Usb To Flash Cisco Rommon
3. Cisco Copy Config From Usb To Flash
4. Copy From Usb To Flash Cisco 2960

For this, I am using a Lexar 4Gb drive.

Step 2: Insert drive in the USB port on the back of the switch

Once you are consoled into the switch, you can insert the USB drive into the back of the switch. There is only one place it will plug in. You will see 'usbflash0: has been inserted' come up on the screen..

Step 3: Copy the IOS into Flash: on the switch. This is done with the following command: copy usbflash0:c3750e-universalk9-mz.122-58.SE2.bin flash: This will copy the.bin file on the USB into the flash memory of the switch. If you do a 'sh flash:' on the switch, you will see both of them listed in there. En dir Directory of flash:/. Ideally, USB flash can hold multiple copies of the Cisco IOS and multiple router configurations, and you can use it to easily move and copy those IOS files and configurations from router to router.

Warning! If it says device needs to be formated first. Format the stick on your switch. Use 'format usbflash0:' Don't waste time trying to format it on your computer.

Step 3: Copy the IOS into Flash: on the switch

This is done with the following command: copy usbflash0:c3750e-universalk9-mz.122-58.SE2.bin flash:

This will copy the .bin file on the USB into the flash memory of the switch. If you do a 'sh flash:' on the switch, you will see both of them listed in there.

en
dir
Directory of flash:/
2 -rwx 7728 Jan 16 2014 14:22:00 -06:00 vlan.dat
3 -rwx 2072 Feb 13 2014 07:58:36 -06:00 multiple-fs
461 -rwx 57686 Feb 13 2014 07:58:36 -06:00 config.text
4 -rwx 5309 Feb 13 2014 07:58:36 -06:00 private-config.text
6 drwx 512 Feb 28 1993 18:10:34 -06:00 c3750e-universalk9-mz.122-55.SE2
6 drwx 512 Feb 12 2014 18:10:34 -06:00 c3750e-universalk9-mz.122-58.SE2

Step 4: Tell switch to boot to the new IOS - and reboot

en
switch#config t
switch#(config)boot system c3750e-universalk9-mz.122-58.SE2.bin
switch#(config)exit
switch#reload
switch#(confirm) y

Step 5: Switch boots to new IOS - Remove Old IOS from Flash

Once the switch boots back up to the new IOS, you can delete the old one out of flash. This is done with the following command:

switch#delete /recursive /force flash:c3750e-universalk9-mz.122-55.SE2.bin

Step 6: Remove USB drive from switch

Nexus 9000 software upgrade using my AirConsole Bluetooth Wireless Console Cable

Each Nexus 9000 switch is shipped with Cisco NX-OS software. The NX-OS software consists of one NXOS image.

The image begins with “nxos” e.g

Only this image is required to load the Cisco NX-OS operating system. This image runs on all Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches.

This tutorial will cover the upgrade of a 93120TX switch but the process is the same for any switch in the 9000 family

Cisco Nexus 9000 software upgrade procedure

Page Contents

• Cisco Nexus 9000 software upgrade procedure

1. Download the image from cisco.com
2. Copy the image to a USB stick or TFTP the image onto the switch (both options will be shown)
3. Initiate the software upgrade process
4. Upgrade complete.

From version 7.0(3)I3(1) you can perform an in-service software upgrade (ISSU), also known as a nondisruptive upgrade. However for this tutorial we will not be covering that. If I am performing a software upgrade on a live network I always like to do it within a maintenance window. This tutorial is being performed on a bench with two new switches right out the box.

Cisco Nexus 9000 software upgrade using TFTP

First step is to download the image from Cisco.com

Cisco Boot From Usb

For the Nexus 9000 software download the latest images can be found here

Select the specific for your switch and download – (you will require a service contract)

Second step is to connect the management interface (or any L3 interface on your switch) to a network where you can see your TFTP server

In my case I have connected my laptop directly to the management port

Next ensure you have a route to your TFTP server

Copy From Usb To Flash Cisco Rommon

I will ping my laptop from the Nexus switch – both my laptop and management interface are addressed in the same /24 subnet

Great so I can see my laptop from the switch, next step is to copy the image

Third step is to copy the image onto the switch so I need to start my TFTP server on my laptop, I am using TFTPD64

Verify you have enough space on the drive (for a new 9000 switch out the box you will have, but if this switch has been in production for a while there may be other redundant images on there.)

You can see at the bottom I have 51098030080 bytes free on this switch – which is 50Gb which is plenty, the image I am upgrading to is 670Mb

To copy the image to the switch ensure your image is in your TFTP directory and start your TFTPD server and issue the following commands on the switch

This process will take a few minutes as the image is copied to the switch

Next step is to install the image – Skip to Performing the Software Upgrade

Cisco Nexus 9000 USB software upgrade

The other more convenient option is to use a USB stick and copy the software to the stick, insert the stick into the Nexus 9000 switch and initiate the copy from USB to Bootflash as below:

Once you insert your USB stick into the USB port on the front of the switch, you should see a message something like this

In this case the device has been assigned USB2: so this is the device we need to copy from

This process is lot quicker, this copy took less than 20 seconds

Now you have the image on the switch we need to verify it’s there

Performing the software upgrade

At this point it is recommended to perform an impact test on the software install, this is a series of test scripts that the switch will run through to check the impact of installing this software image

It is not a requirement for the software upgrade but just a good sense check to make sure all is ok.

All tests have passed with SUCCESS so let’s perform the upgrade – this will perform the same checks but at the end actually perform the install.

Cisco Copy Config From Usb To Flash

Issue the command install all nxos bootflash:nxos.7.0.3.I4.7.bin

Copy From Usb To Flash Cisco 2960

Select Y to progress with the install

The switch will now reload and when it’s back online, we just need to verify it is running the new image, during the reboot you can see if it is booting the new image

Final verification is to log into the switch and issue the show version command

The upgrade is complete –

Please note this upgrade was performed on a device not in a production network, during staging.
Before proceeding with any upgrades on your live network, ensure you understand the full impact of rebooting any switch.

To see an IOS upgrade performed on a Cisco IOS switch using Ansible check out:

Please check out my other posts on Network Automation using Ansible & Python