cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
cancel
1328
Views
0
Helpful
7
Replies

Catalyst 6500 6513 Minimum Flash Requirements

packetzen
Level 1
Level 1

I am wanting to upgrade to an advanced IOS image that states it requires 128mb min of Flash.  I have 64mb of internal flash. I'm a little confused by this as currently we are booting off of a removable compact flash card.  So is it possible to run/boot off of the compact flash card?  I have the min for dram of 512mb.

My understanding is that it's best practices not to boot off of removable flash as if it's removed will cause a system crash.

Thanks,
Tommy

2 Accepted Solutions

Accepted Solutions

Jon Marshall
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

packetzen wrote:

I am wanting to upgrade to an advanced IOS image that states it requires 128mb min of Flash.  I have 64mb of internal flash. I'm a little confused by this as currently we are booting off of a removable compact flash card.  So is it possible to run/boot off of the compact flash card?  I have the min for dram of 512mb.

My understanding is that it's best practices not to boot off of removable flash as if it's removed will cause a system crash.

Thanks,
Tommy

Tommy

Yes you can boot off the compact flash card and it if is removed it will not cause a system crash. If it is removed and the switch is reloaded obviously it will fail to boot unless you have a backup IOS on bootflash.

To boot of the compact flash you just point the "boot system flash ... " command to the disk0 or disk1 slot.

As for whether it should be done or not. Well often the new IOS images are bigger than your internal bootflash so unless you want to upgrade that then it is easier to just use a compact flash card.  And if a person has access to remove the card then they can do a lot worse to your network than that

Jon

View solution in original post

packetzen wrote:

I got some incorrect information (cisco) that said it would crash but as I remember and I think you are confirming this is that the device loads - grabs the copy of the IOS and then load that into memory (not exactly sure where it loads the IOS but the point being is that it doesnt actively run it off the removable flash card.  Correct?  I should know this from my ccna day's.. Thanks!

Yes, correct. Once the IOS image is loaded into memory then you can remove the compact flash card with no ill effects.

Jon

View solution in original post

7 Replies 7

Jon Marshall
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

packetzen wrote:

I am wanting to upgrade to an advanced IOS image that states it requires 128mb min of Flash.  I have 64mb of internal flash. I'm a little confused by this as currently we are booting off of a removable compact flash card.  So is it possible to run/boot off of the compact flash card?  I have the min for dram of 512mb.

My understanding is that it's best practices not to boot off of removable flash as if it's removed will cause a system crash.

Thanks,
Tommy

Tommy

Yes you can boot off the compact flash card and it if is removed it will not cause a system crash. If it is removed and the switch is reloaded obviously it will fail to boot unless you have a backup IOS on bootflash.

To boot of the compact flash you just point the "boot system flash ... " command to the disk0 or disk1 slot.

As for whether it should be done or not. Well often the new IOS images are bigger than your internal bootflash so unless you want to upgrade that then it is easier to just use a compact flash card.  And if a person has access to remove the card then they can do a lot worse to your network than that

Jon

I got some incorrect information (cisco) that said it would crash but as I remember and I think you are confirming this is that the device loads - grabs the copy of the IOS and then load that into memory (not exactly sure where it loads the IOS but the point being is that it doesnt actively run it off the removable flash card.  Correct?  I should know this from my ccna day's.. Thanks!

packetzen wrote:

I got some incorrect information (cisco) that said it would crash but as I remember and I think you are confirming this is that the device loads - grabs the copy of the IOS and then load that into memory (not exactly sure where it loads the IOS but the point being is that it doesnt actively run it off the removable flash card.  Correct?  I should know this from my ccna day's.. Thanks!

Yes, correct. Once the IOS image is loaded into memory then you can remove the compact flash card with no ill effects.

Jon

Thanks!!

Another question along the same lines.  (although I can open another discussion if needed)

I am doing this upgrade to a 6513 with redundant sup 720 engines.  It's my understanding that the upgrade sequence is

1.  update my boot command to point to new ios in run config

2.  then reload the standby sup with command hw-module-reset.

3.  Then perform a "redundancy force-switchover" to reload primary.  Is that correct?

If that is correct, I would then be on my 'old'y standby sup engine.  Should I then perform another "redundancy force-switchover" to get back to my original sup?

Thanks!!

A question on a similar topic;

I am looking to upgrade the IOS on our 6509. It currently has 64MB bootflash. I understand that the new images are around the 100MB mark, but the minimum flash in the download area on the Cisco site reports 'Flash: 512MB'. Would 128MB CF card not do, or am I missing something, i.e. it expands the images etc.

I've seen a similar thing whereby a cat 4500 image is 15MB but the minimum Flash is 64MB?

Below is a response from a Cisco tech.

"Regarding your other query why we require flash of 128 MB for the new IOS you are going to upgrade to."

1. "This is the minimum requirement for the IOS."

2. "Also we require memory for Switch processor and Route Processor that is the reason we need 128 MB flash."

Thanks,

Mohamad A. Qayoom

Getting Started

Find answers to your questions by entering keywords or phrases in the Search bar above. New here? Use these resources to familiarize yourself with the community: