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This chapter describes tasks that can be performed as part of the configuration process, but are not necessarily needed for you to complete your system configuration. These tasks affect overall system operation. The tasks are as follows:
You can boot your communication server in three ways:
You can download new versions of the system image over the network. This process is called netbooting.
Netbooting works as follows: when you power up your Cisco communication server for the first time, the communication server system software checks the software configuration register for default boot instructions or the nonvolatile memory for special netbooting instructions.
If the system finds netbooting instructions, it determines its interface address and then runs a special process to load the new software into memory using the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP).
Use the boot system global configuration command to netboot. The keyword system indicates that the filename and host address for booting operating software over the network are in the nonvolatile memory.
boot system testme5.tester 131 108.13.111
By default, the router uses an Internet address of all ones (255.255.255.255) to broadcast TFTP Read Request message. However, many hosts use an old style of broadcast address consisting of all zeros. You can change the operation of the router to accommodate hosts using the old style of broadcast address by using the ip broadcast-address command described in Chapter 13 of the Router Products Configuration and Reference publication.
Specifying netbooting with the boot system global configuration command uses the nonvolatile memory option, which enables you to provide more detailed instructions for software downloading. You can use the boot system configuration command to specify both the boot filename and the IP address of the server host. You must still set the bottom four bits of the configuration register to a netbooting value. This means that if you have only bit 0 set, the system runs the default ROM software and netbooting is not permitted. For more information about the configuration register, see "Configuration Register Settings" later in this chapter.
With a CSC-MC+ Flash memory card and either a CSC-MCI or
CSC-ENVM controller and appropriate cables, system software images can be written to Flash memory for booting. The Flash memory card is available for the ASM chassis. Before you boot from Flash, you should configure your Flash memory. See "Copying the TFTP Image to Flash Memories" later in this chapter for more information about copying into the current Flash configuration.
You can automatically boot from the Flash memory card using the boot system flash system configuration command. You can also manually boot from the ROM monitor using the b flash command.
You can automatically boot the system from Flash memory using the boot system flash system configuration command. However, to use this command, one of the following must be true:
boot system configuration commands regardless of argument. Specifying the keyword flash or argument filename with the no boot system command disables only the command specified by these arguments.
The boot system flash command boots the first valid file in Flash memory. The boot system flash filename boots the file specified by this filename.
Configure the system to automatically boot from the desired file in Flash memory using the configure terminal command and the boot system flash filename system configuration command.
Write the configuration to nonvolatile memory with the write memory command. Following this, boot the system with the reload command.
Use the b flash command at the ROM monitor level to manually boot the system, as in the following example. Check the appropriate hardware manual for the correct jumper or configuration register setting.
>b flash
F3: 1578668+35572+156084 at 0x1000
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
{ROM Monitor copyrights}
Refer to Chapter 4 of the Communication Server Configuration and Reference publication for a description of the Flash commands. Refer to the appropriate hardware installation and maintenance publication for hardware installation instructions for Flash memory.
When netbooting with or without Flash memory you can specify the use of the ROM system image even though other boot instructions exist in the configuration. You can do this using the boot system rom command so that the ROM software is used as a backup. You can also set the configuration register to override the configuration file. See "Setting the Configuration Register" later in this chapter.
If you used the setup command facility and answered yes to the final prompt in the System Configuration Dialog, the configuration was saved in nonvolatile memory. The final prompt is as follows:
Use this configuration? [yes/no]:
If you choose not to create your configuration file this way, there are several options you can now choose from to create the configuration file that will be used for your system. To make your choice, note that the communication server holds configuration information in two places--in running memory and nonvolatile memory. Configuration information in running memory is temporary and will not be stored if power is shut off. Configuration information in nonvolatile memory is always available.
You can create a configuration file as follows:
Before deciding which configuration you want to use, compare configurations.You can display information stored in nonvolatile memory using the EXEC command show configuration. You can use the write terminal command to display the configuration running in memory.
If you decide to store a configuration file other than the one currently in nonvolatile memory, use the EXEC command write erase to clear the contents of nonvolatile memory first.
In addition to storing the configuration file in nonvolatile memory, you might want to store it on a server host on the network. The file can be stored using the write network command. (Storing on a remote host allows you to use an editor on the host to edit and create the configuration file.)
Enter the EXEC command configure at the privileged-level EXEC prompt to enter configuration mode. Once you are in configuration mode, issue configuration commands from the console terminal.
The communication server responds with the following prompt asking you to specify the terminal, a file, or nonvolatile memory as the source of configuration commands.
Configuring from terminal, memory, or network [terminal]?
To begin configuration at the console terminal, enter terminal at the prompt or press Return (since terminal is the default) to start command collection. During command collection, the communication server accepts one configuration command per line. You can enter as many configuration subcommands as you want.
Enter Ctrl-Z when you finish entering configuration commands. This returns you to the EXEC, where you can test your configuration or write the configuration commands to memory.
At periodic intervals, you will want to write the configuration information into nonvolatile memory or to a configuration file stored on a remote host. This will make checking, adding information to, and booting the configuration file an easier task. The procedures for writing information to nonvolatile memory are described next.
After you enter the desired configuration information at the console terminal, use the privileged EXEC command write memory to make a copy of the configuration information in the nonvolatile memory. Nonvolatile memory stores the current configuration information in text format as configuration commands, recording only nondefault settings. The memory is checksummed to guard against corrupted data.
As part of its start-up sequence, the communication server startup software always checks for configuration information in the nonvolatile memory. If the nonvolatile memory holds valid configuration commands, the communication server executes the commands automatically at startup. If the communication server detects a problem with the nonvolatile memory or the configuration information it contains, the communication server may enter the setup mode, prompting for configuration information. Problems can include a bad checksum for the information in the nonvolatile memory and the absence of critical information.
To display the configuration information stored in the nonvolatile memory, enter the show configuration EXEC command at the privileged-mode EXEC prompt.
To reexecute the configuration commands stored in nonvolatile memory, enter the EXEC command configure at the privileged-level EXEC prompt and enter configuration mode.
The communication server responds with this prompt asking you to specify the terminal, a file, or nonvolatile memory as the source of configuration commands.
Configuring from terminal, memory, or network [terminal]?
To reexecute the configuration commands stored in nonvolatile memory, enter memory at the configure mode prompt.
To retrieve and/or add to the configuration information stored on a file on a server on your network, enter the EXEC command configure at the privileged-level EXEC prompt and enter configuration mode.
The communication server responds with the following prompt asking you to specify the terminal, a file, or nonvolatile memory as the source of configuration commands.
Configuring from terminal, memory, or network [terminal]?
Enter network at this prompt to retrieve and/or add to the configuration information stored on a host file. The system will ask you to select a host or network configuration file, for the address of the host, and for a file name. The following example illustrates this process.
Host or network configuration file [host]? IP address of remote host [255.255.255.255]?131.108.2.155Name of configuration file [tokyo-confg]? Configure using tokyo-confg from 131.108.2.155? [confirm]yBooting tokyo-confg from 131.108.2.155:!! [OK - 874/16000 bytes]
The communication server can be configured to automatically load additional configuration information from a network host. You might want to keep an up-to-date version of configuration information on another host, where you can change it as necessary, and use the nonvolatile memory as a bootstrap or backup mechanism. You can instruct the communication server to load configuration information over the network by entering the service config subcommand and then writing the information to nonvolatile memory using the write memory command. Loading configuration information over the network is the default if nonvolatile memory is not installed. The service configuration subcommand is described in Chapter 4 of the Communication Server Configuration and Reference publication.
After loading configuration information from the nonvolatile memory, the communication server will attempt to load two configuration files from remote hosts. The first is the network configuration file, which contains commands that apply to all communication servers and routers on a network. The second is the host configuration file, which contains commands that apply to one communication server in particular.
To store configuration information on a remote host, enter the privileged EXEC command write network. This command sends a copy of the current configuration information to a remote host. The command will prompt you for the destination host's address and a filename, as the following example illustrates.
Tokyo#write networkRemote host [131.108.2.155]? Name of configuration file to write [tokyo-confg]? Write file tokyo-confg on host 131.108.2.155? [confirm]yWriting tokyo-confg.. [OK]
The communication server uses the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) to load and save system images and configuration files.
The TFTP session can sometimes fail. To help determine why a TFTP session failed, TFTP generates an "E" character if it receives an erroneous packet, and an "O" if it receives an out-of-sequence packet. A period (.) indicates a timeout. The transfer session might still succeed even if TFTP generates these characters, but the output is useful for diagnosing the transfer failure.
This section is divided as follows:
The default name of the network configuration file is network-confg. The default name for the host configuration file is taken from the host name. The host name can be specified by the hostname configuration subcommand or can be derived from the Domain Name System (DNS); see Chapter 4 of the Communication Server Configuration and Reference publication for more information. To form the host configuration filename, the communication server converts the host name to lowercase, stripped of any DNS information, and appends "-confg." If no host name information is available, the default host configuration filename is
cs-confg. Other names for these configuration files can be set using the boot command, which is described in Chapter 4 of the "System Configuration" chapter of the Communication Server Configuration and Reference publication.
service config
no service config
To enable automatic loading of network configuration files at communication server reboot time, use the service config command. The no version of this command (the default) disables the loading of these files.
If the communication server fails to load a configuration file during startup, it tries again every ten minutes (default setting) until a host provides the requested files. With each failed attempt, the communication server displays a message on the console terminal.
The communication server uses TFTP to load and save configuration files. By default, the communication server uses an Internet address of all ones to broadcast TFTP Read Request messages. However, many hosts use an old style of broadcast address consisting of all zeros. You can change operation to accommodate hosts using the old style of broadcast address.
If the communication server is unable to load the file named
network-confg, it displays the following message.
Booting network-confg... [timed out]
To end these file load attempts, enter the following configuration command at the console terminal and save it in the nonvolatile memory:
no service configAs configured at the factory, the operating system software executes instructions in the onboard EPROM. You need not change the system EPROMs with each software update. Instead, you can download the latest software over the network. This process is called netbooting.
Netbooting works as follows: when you power on your Cisco communication server product for the first time, it checks the processor configuration register or the nonvolatile memory for special netbooting instructions. If the system finds no special instructions, it executes the default EPROM software.
If the system finds netbooting instructions, it determines its interface address and then runs a special process to TFTP-load the new software into memory.
You can specify boot loading in two ways. The first way involves setting the low four bits of the processor configuration register; see the appropriate hardware installation and maintenace publication for details. If no bits are set, you must manually boot the system using the System Bootstrap program. If only the low bit is set, the system runs the default software. The system interprets any other binary bit combination as an octal number for use in forming the boot filename. The system forms the boot file name by starting with the word "cisco" and then appending the octal number, a hyphen, and the processor type name. The System Bootstrap program displays the processor type name at system startup.
For example, if bit one in the four-bit field is set and the processor type is CSC/3, the boot filename formed is cisco2-csc3. Assuming no other information is available, the system would try to TFTP-load the file cisco2-csc3 by first sending a broadcast TFTP read request to determine which server host had the file.
The second way to specify netbooting uses the nonvolatile memory option, which enables you to provide more detailed instructions for software downloading. You can use the boot configuration command to specify both the boot file name and the IP address of the server host. You must still set the bottom four bits of the configuration register to a netbooting value.
boot testme5.tester 131 108.13.111
By default, the communication server uses an Internet address of all ones (255.255.255.255) to broadcast TFTP Read Request message. However, many hosts use an old style of broadcast address consisting of all zeros. You can change the operation of the communication server to accommodate hosts using the old style of broadcast address by using the
ip broadcast-address command described in Chapter 13 of the
Communication Server Configuration and Reference publication.
Netbooting over X.25 and Frame Relay have special configuration considerations; refer to the Communication Server Configuration and Reference for these special netbooting considerations.
With a CSC-MC+ Flash memory card and either a CSC-MCI or
CSC-ENVM controller and appropriate cables, system software images may be written to Flash memory for booting. The Flash memory card is available for the AGS+, AGS, MGS, and CGS chassis. Refer to Chapter 4 of the Communication Server Configuration and Reference for a description of the Flash commands.Refer to the appropriate hardware installation and maintenance publication for hardware installation instructions.
The copy tftp flash command copies a TFTP image into the current Flash configuration:
copy tftp flash
If the image fits into the current Flash configuration, it prompts you for the IP address of the TFTP server and the TFTP file name. You are given an option to erase existing Flash memory before writing onto it. The system then clears and initializes each Flash memory. A pound sign (#) prompt is displayed for each cleared and initialized device (16 total). The entire copying process takes several minutes and will differ from network to network.
The following shows sample output of copying a system image, which is named cs3-k.91-1, into the current Flash configuration.
CS# copy tftp flash
IP address or name of remote host [255.255.255.255]? server1
Name of file to copy ? cs3-k.91-1
Copy cs3-k.91-1 from 150.136.128.191 into flash memory? [confirm]
Erasure is needed before flash may be written.
Erase flash before writing? [confirm]
Clearing and initializing flash memory (please wait) ################
Loading from 150.136.128.191: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [OK - 1648952/4194176 bytes]
Verifying via checksum...
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Flash verification successful. Length = 1648952, checksum = 0x00C2
The series of pound signs (#) indicate each Flash device is being cleared and initialized; one per device (16 total). The last line in the sample configuration indicates that the copy is successful. During the actual copy process, the yellow LED on the CSC-MC+ will be lighted.
The exclamation points indicate the copy process.
The series of Vs in the above sample output indicate that a checksum verification of the Flash is occurring as it is loaded into memory for boot. It is verified only through data compare during programming of the Flash.
If the TFTP image is too large, a failure message of "buffer overflow - xxxx/xxxx" will appear, where xxxx/xxxx is the number of bytes read in/number of bytes available.
Use the output of show flash all to obtain the image name. See
Chapter 5 of the Communication Server Configuration and Reference publication for more information about this EXEC command.
You can copy an image back to a TFTP server using the copy flash tftp command. This copy of the system image can serve as a backup copy and may also be used to verify that the copy in Flash is the same as on the original file on disk. The following example illustrates how to use this command:
CS# copy flash tftp
IP address of remote host [255.255.255.255]? 101.2.13.110
filename to write on tftp host? cs3-k.91-1.chk
writing ptxx2 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
successful tftp write.
CS#
Once you have configured Flash memory, you can configure the system with the no boot system flash command in order to revert to booting from ROM. See Chapter 4 of the Communication Server Configuration and Reference publication. Flash memory is not available on the 500-CS.
Use the following EXEC command to halt and restart the communication server:
reload
If bit 0 of the configuration register is set, the communication server automatically returns the System Bootstrap prompt. Bit 0 is set if the rightmost pin on your processor has a jumper in it, or the software configuration register has bit 0 set to 1. These settings are the default. If this bit is not set, you can manually boot the system using the System Bootstrap program by issuing the boot command or try to netboot over the network.
Once you reload, your system uses the configuration you have directed it to use.
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