Router Memory Commands

Syntax Description

Default

The initial default filesystem is flash:. For platforms that do not have a physical device named flash:, the keyword flash: is aliased to the default Flash device.

Command Mode

EXEC

Usage Guidelines

This command first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 11.0.

Related Commands

You can use the master indexes or search online to find documentation of related commands.

Command Mode

EXEC

Usage Guidelines

This command first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 11.3 T.

The router will prompt for any missing pieces of the source and destination files or devices.

The entire copying process might take several minutes and differs from protocol to protocol and from network to network.

This section contains usage guidelines for the following situations:

• A running configuration to a running configuration.

• A startup configuration to a startup configuration.

• From a device to the same device (for example, the copy flash: flash: command is invalid).

1. The remote username specified in the file-url.

2. The username set by the ip rcmd remote-username command, if the command is configured.

3. The remote username associated with the current TTY (terminal) process. For example, if the user is connected to the router through Telnet and was authenticated through the username command, the router software sends the Telnet username as the remote username.

4. The router host name.

For the rcp copy request to execute successfully, an account must be defined on the network server for the remote username. If the network administrator of the destination server did not establish an account for the remote username, this command will not execute successfully. If the server has a directory structure, the configuration file or image is written to or copied from the directory associated with the remote username on the server. Use the ip rcmd remote-username command to specify which directory on the server to use. For example, if the system image resides in the home directory of a user on the server, you can specify that user's name as the remote username.

If you are writing to the server, the rcp server must be properly configured to accept the rcp write request from the user on the router. For UNIX systems, you must add an entry to the .rhosts file for the remote user on the rcp server. Suppose the router contains the following configuration lines:

hostname Rtr1
ip rcmd remote-username User0
 

If the router's IP address translates to Router1.company.com, then the .rhosts file for User0 on the rcp server should contain the following line:

Router1.company.com Rtr1
 

Refer to the documentation for your rcp server for more details. If you are using a personal computer as a file server, the computer must support rsh.

Caution Some specific commands might not get saved to NVRAM. You will have to enter these commands again if you reboot the machine. These commands are noted in the documentation. We recommend that you keep a listing of these settings so you can quickly reconfigure your router after rebooting.

If you issue the copy system:running-config nvram:startup-config command from a bootstrap system image, you receive a warning instructing you to indicate whether you want your previous NVRAM configuration to be overwritten and configuration commands to be lost. This warning does not appear if NVRAM contains an invalid configuration or if the previous configuration in NVRAM was generated by a bootstrap system image.

On the Class A Flash file system platforms, the copy system:running-config nvram:startup-config command copies the currently running configuration to the location specified by the CONFIG_FILE environment variable. This variable specifies the device and configuration file used for initialization. When the CONFIG_FILE environment variable points to NVRAM or when this variable does not exist (such as at first-time startup), the software writes the current configuration to NVRAM. If the current configuration is too large for NVRAM, the software displays a message and stops executing the command.

Router# configure terminal
 
Router# copy rcp flash
Address or name of remote host []? 172.22.124.5
Source file name []? test
Destination file name [test]? 
 
Connected to 172.22.124.5
Loading 16 byte file test: ! [OK]

• Copy from a Server to a Flash Memory Using Flash Load Helper Example

Router# copy tftp flash
 
System flash partition information:
Partition   Size     Used    Free    Bank-Size   State       Copy-Mode
    1       4096K    2048K   2048K   2048K       Read Only   RXBOOT-FLH
    2       4096K    2048K   2048K   2048K       Read/Write  Direct
 
[Type ?<no> for partition directory; ? for full directory; q to abort]
Which partition? [default = 2]
 
                               **** NOTICE ****
Flash load helper v1.0
This process will accept the copy options and then terminate
the current system image to use the ROM based image for the copy.
Routing functionality will not be available during that time.
If you are logged in via telnet, this connection will terminate.
Users with console access can see the results of the copy operation.
                               ---- ******** ----
Proceed? [confirm]
System flash directory, partition 1:
File  Length   Name/status
  1   3459720  master/igs-bfpx.100-4.3
[3459784 bytes used, 734520 available, 4194304 total]
Address or name of remote host [255.255.255.255]? 172.16.1.1
Source file name? master/igs-bfpx-100.4.3
Destination file name [default = source name]?
 
Loading master/igs-bfpx.100-4.3 from 172.16.1.111: !
Erase flash device before writing? [confirm]
Flash contains files. Are you sure? [confirm]
Copy 'master/igs-bfpx.100-4.3' from TFTP server
as 'master/igs-bfpx.100-4.3' into Flash WITH erase? [yes/no] yes

Router# copy flash rcp
Source file name []? kk
Address or name of remote host []? 172.22.124.5
Destination file name [kk]? 
Writing kk !
99 bytes copied in 0.380 secs

• Copy an Image from a Flash Memory Device to a Server

The following example copies the file c3600-i-mz from partition 1 of the Flash memory card in slot 0 to a TFTP server that has IP address 172.23.1.129. Because the Flash memory card has multiple partitions, and a partition number and filename are not specified in the command line, you must provide this information during the copy operation.

Router# copy slot0: tftp:
PCMCIA Slot0 flash
 
Partition   Size    Used      Free      Bank-Size  State          Copy Mode
  1         4096K   1671K     2424K     4096K      Read/Write     Direct
  2         4096K   3068K     1027K     4096K      Read/Write     Direct
  3         4096K   1671K     2424K     4096K      Read/Write     Direct
  4         4096K   3825K      270K     4096K      Read/Write     Direct
 
[Type ?<no> for partition directory; ? for full directory; q to abort]
Which partition? [default = 1] 1
 
PCMCIA Slot0 flash directory, partition 1:
File  Length   Name/status
  1   1711088  /tftpboot/cisco_rules/c3600-i-mz 
[1711152 bytes used, 2483152 available, 4194304 total]
Address or name of remote host [172.23.1.129]? 
Source file name? /tftpboot/cisco_rules/c3600-i-mz
Destination file name [/tftpboot/cisco_rules/c3600-i-mz]? dirt/cisco_rules/c3700-i-mz
Verifying checksum for '/tftpboot/cisco_rules/c3600-i-mz' (file # 1)...  OK
Copy '/tftpboot/cisco_rules/c3600-i-mz' from Flash to server
  as 'dirt/cisco_rules/c3700-i-mz'? [yes/no] yes
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Upload to server done
Flash device copy took 00:00:23 [hh:mm:ss]

Router#copy rcp: system:running-config
Address or name of remote host []? 172.22.124.5
Source file name []? kk
Destination file name [running-config]? 
 
Connected to 172.22.124.5
Loading 99 byte file kk: ! [OK]

Router# copy rcp: startup-config
Address or name of remote host []? 172.22.124.5
Source file name []? kk
Destination file name [startup-config]? 
 
Connected to 172.22.124.5
Loading 99 byte file kk: ! [OK]

Router# configure terminal
Router(config)# ip rcmd remote-username netadmin2
Router(config)# end
Router# copy nvram:startup-config rcp:
Remote host[]? 172.16.101.101
 
Name of configuration file to write [rtr2-confg]? <cr>
Write file rtr2-confg on host 172.16.101.101?[confirm] <cr>
![OK]

Syntax Description

Command Mode

EXEC

Usage Guidelines

This command first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 11.0.

When you delete a file, the software simply marks the file as deleted, but does not erase the file. This feature allows you to later recover a "deleted" file using the undelete command. You can delete and undelete a file up to 15 times.

If you attempt to delete the configuration file or image specified by the CONFIG_FILE or BOOTLDR environment variable, the system prompts you to confirm the deletion. Also, if you attempt to delete the last valid system image specified in the BOOT environment variable, the system prompts you to confirm the deletion.

Example

The following example deletes the router-backupconfig file from the Flash memory card inserted in slot 0:

delete :router-backupconfig

Related Commands

You can use the master indexes or search online to find documentation of related commands.

Syntax Description

There are no arguments or keywords for this command.

Default

The default filesystem is that specified by the cd command. When you omit all keywords and arguments, the Cisco IOS software displays only undeleted files for the default filesystem in short format.

Command Mode

EXEC

Usage Guidelines

This command first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 11.0.

Use the show filesystem command to display more detail about the files in a particular file system.

Examples

tw3-7200-1#dir /long slot0:
Directory of /
 
  1  -rw-     4720148   Aug 29 1997 17:49:36  hampton/nitro/c7200-j-mz
  2  -rw-     4767328   Oct 01 1997 18:42:53  c7200-js-mz
  5  -rw-         639   Oct 02 1997 12:09:32  foo
  7  -rw-         639   Oct 02 1997 12:37:13  the_time
 
20578304 bytes total (3104544 bytes free)
tw3-7200-1#dir slot0:
Directory of/
 
  1  -rw-     4720148   Aug 29 1997 17:49:36  hampton/nitro/c3810-j-mz
  2  -rw-     4767328   Oct 01 1997 18:42:53  c3810-js-mz
  5  -rw-         639   Oct 02 1997 12:09:32  foo
  7  -rw-         639   Oct 02 1997 12:37:13  the_time
 
20578304 bytes total (3104544 bytes free)
tw3-7200-1#dir /all slot0:
Directory of /
 
  1  -rw-     4720148   Aug 29 1997 17:49:36  hampton/nitro/c3810-j-mz
  2  -rw-     4767328   Oct 01 1997 18:42:53  c3810-js-mz
  3  -rw-     7982828   Oct 01 1997 18:48:14  [rsp-jsv-mz]
  4  -rw-         639   Oct 02 1997 12:09:17  [the_time]
  5  -rw-         639   Oct 02 1997 12:09:32  foo
  6  -rw-         639   Oct 02 1997 12:37:01  [the_time]
  7  -rw-         639   Oct 02 1997 12:37:13  the_time
 

Command Mode

EXEC

Usage Guidelines

This command first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 11.3 T.

You can use this command to display configuration files. The more nvram:startup-config command displays the startup configuration file. The more system:running-config command displays the running configuration.

To display the contents of NVRAM (if present and valid), or to show the configuration file pointed to by the CONFIG_FILE environment variable, use the more nvram:startup-config EXEC command. NVRAM stores the configuration information on the network server in text form as configuration commands. The more nvram:startup-config command shows the version number of the software used when you last executed the copy system:running-config nvram:startup-config command.

For Class A Flash memory file systems, the more nvram:startup-config command shows the configuration file specified by the CONFIG_FILE environment variable. This variable specifies the configuration file used for initialization (startup). The Cisco IOS software informs you whether the displayed configuration is a complete configuration or a distilled version. A distilled configuration is one that does not contain access lists. If the CONFIG_FILE environment variable does not exist or is not valid, the software displays the NVRAM configuration (if it is a valid, complete configuration). Use the boot config command in conjunction with the copy system:running-config nvram:startup-config command to set the CONFIG_FILE environment variable.

Use the more system:running-config command in conjunction with the more nvram:startup-config command to compare the information in running memory to the information stored in NVRAM or in a location specified by the CONFIG_FILE environment variable.

Sample Displays

The following partial sample output displays the configuration file startup-config in NVRAM:

tw3-7200-1# more nvram:startup-config
!
! No configuration change since last restart
! NVRAM config last updated at 02:03:26 PDT Thu Oct 2 1997
!
version 11.3
service timestamps debug uptime
service timestamps log uptime
service password-encryption
service udp-small-servers
service tcp-small-servers
!
hostname tw3-7200-1
!
boot system flash bootflash:
...
end
 

The following is partial sample output from the more nvram:startup-config command when the configuration file has been compressed:

rose# more nvram:startup-config
 
Using 21542 out of 65536 bytes, uncompressed size = 142085 bytes
!
version 9.22 
service compress-config
!
hostname rose
!
boot system flash gs7-k.sthormod_clean
boot system rom
(********* update output to recent release ***********)

The following partial sample output displays the running configuration:

Router2# show system:running-config
Building configuration...
 
Current configuration:
!
version 11.2
no service udp-small-servers
no service tcp-small-servers
!
hostname Router2
!
...
!
end

Related Commands

You can use the master indexes or search online to find documentation of related commands.

Syntax Description

Command Mode

EXEC

Usage Guidelines

The show flash all command first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 10.0. The remaining commands, such as chips and detailed, first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 10.3.

The show flash command displays the type of Flash memory present, any files that currently exist in Flash memory, and the amounts of Flash memory used and remaining.

Sample Displays

The output of the show flash command depends on the type of Flash file system.

Example for a Class A Flash Memory Filesystem

The following example shows sample output from the show flash command.

tw3-7200-1# show flash
 
-#- ED --type-- --crc--- -seek-- nlen -length- -----date/time------ name
1   .. unknown  317FBA1B  4A0694   24  4720148 Aug 29 1997 17:49:36 hampton/nitro/c7200-j-mz
2   .. unknown  9237F3FF  92C574   11  4767328 Oct 01 1997 18:42:53 c7200-js-mz
3   .D unknown  71AB01F1 10C94E0   10  7982828 Oct 01 1997 18:48:14 rsp-jsv-mz
4   .D unknown  96DACD45 10C97E0    8      639 Oct 02 1997 12:09:17 the_time
5   .. unknown  96DACD45 10C9AE0    3      639 Oct 02 1997 12:09:32 foo
6   .D unknown  96DACD45 10C9DE0    8      639 Oct 02 1997 12:37:01 the_time
7   .. unknown  96DACD45 10CA0E0    8      639 Oct 02 1997 12:37:13 the_time
 
3104544 bytes available (17473760 bytes used)
 

Syntax Description

This command has no arguments or keywords.

Command Mode

EXEC

Sample Display

The following shows a sample display from the show file systems command:

Router# show file systems
File Systems:
 
     Size(b)     Free(b)      Type  Flags  Prefixes
          -           -     opaque     rw  null:
          -           -     opaque     rw  system:
          -           -       tftp     rw  tftp:
          -           -        rcp     rw  rcp:
*    8128000     4686336     flash     rw  flash:

Usage Guidelines

This command first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 11.3 T.

Use this command to display the names of the file systems your router supports.

Table A-5: Possible Filesystem Types

Type	Description
disk	The file system is for a rotating medium.
flash	The file system is for a Flash memory device.
network	The file system is a network file system (TFTP, rcp, FTP, etc.)
nvram	The file system is for an NVRAM device.
opaque	The file system is a locally generated "psuedo" file system (e.g. the "system") or a download interface, such as brimux.
rom	The file system is for a ROM or EPROM device.
tty	The file system is for a collection of terminal devices.
unknown	The file system is of unknown type.

Table A-6: Possible Filesystem Flags

Flag	Description
ro	The file system is Read Only.
rw	The file system is Write Only.
wo	The file system is Read/Write.

Syntax Description

Command Mode

EXEC

Usage Guidelines

The show flash command displays the type of Flash memory present, any files that currently exist in Flash memory, and the amounts of Flash memory used and remaining.

The following is a sample output from the show flash command:

Router# show flash
Directory of flash:
 
  3  -rwx     3440436   Mar 01 1993 00:16:01  mc3810-a2inr3v2-mz-1112
 
8128000 bytes total (4686336 bytes free)

Syntax Description

Default

The default filesystem is the one specified by the cd command.

Command Mode

EXEC

Usage Guidelines

This command first appeared in Cisco IOS Release 11.0.

When you delete a file, the Cisco IOS software simply marks the file as deleted, but does not erase the file. This command allows you to recover a "deleted" file on a specified Flash memory device. You must undelete a file by its index because you could have multiple deleted files with the same name. For example, the "deleted" list could contain multiple configuration files with the name router-config. You undelete by index to indicate which of the many router-config files from the list to undelete. Use the dir command to determine the index number of the file you want to undelete.

You cannot undelete a file if a valid (undeleted) one with the same name exists. Instead, you must first delete the existing file and then undelete the file you want. For example, if you had an undeleted version of the router-config file and you wanted to use a previous, deleted version instead, you could not simply undelete the previous version by index. You would first delete the existing router-config file and then undelete the previous router-config file by index. You can delete and undelete a file up to 15 times.

Example

The following example recovers the deleted file whose index number is 1 to the Flash memory card inserted in slot 0:

undelete 1 slot0:

Related Commands

You can use the master indexes or search online to find documentation of related commands.