New and Changed Information
This document provides instructions for booting from one of two images that are installed on certain Cisco switches. The following table provides an overview of the significant changes to this guide up to this current release.
Feature |
Description |
---|---|
Initial release of document |
Initial release of document |
About Booting Switches with Multi-Image
Beginning with Cisco APIC Release 4.1(2), support is now available for certain Cisco switches to be loaded at the factory with two images:
-
One current Cisco ACI or NX-OS image
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One long-lived image of the other OS type
See Switches That Support Booting With Multi-Image for a list of switches that support this functionality.
For example, you could have the following two images loaded at the factory:
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First image: Current Cisco ACI image
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Second image: A long-lived NX-OS image
Or you could have these two images loaded at the factory:
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First image: Current NX-OS image
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Second image: A long-lived Cisco ACI image
When you order a switch listed in Switches That Support Booting With Multi-Image and you request a current Cisco ACI or NX-OS image to be loaded onto that switch, the latest long-lived release of the other OS type is also automatically loaded onto that switch in the factory at the same time. These procedures provide instructions on booting from one of these two images on your Cisco switch.
Note |
Do not format the bootflash on your switch. Doing so erases both images that were installed at the factory as part of the multi-image setup. |
Switches That Support Booting With Multi-Image
The following switches support the ability to boot with multi-image:
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Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX switch
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Cisco Nexus 93108TC-EX switch
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Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX switch
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Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX switch
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Cisco Nexus 9364C fixed spine switch
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Cisco Nexus 9348GC-FXP switch
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Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2 switch
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Cisco Nexus 93240YC-FX2 switch
Saving the License File
If you want to boot the long-live ACI image, and the NX-OS platform has pre-installed licenses already, then you must copy the license file and save it first, in case you want to go back to the NX-OS environment again.
Procedure
Step 1 |
Locate the license file in your bootflash directory.
Example:
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Step 2 |
(Optional) Verify the information for the pre-installed license.
Example:
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Step 3 |
Upload a copy of the license file to a TFTP server.
Example:
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Step 4 |
Download and copy the license file back, if necessary. |
Booting a Switch with Multi-Image
The following procedures describe how to boot a switch with either of the images that are factory-installed on your switch.
Procedure
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 |
Power cycle the device. |
— |
Step 2 |
Press Ctrl-C to access the loader> prompt. Example:
|
— |
Step 3 |
loader> cmdline recoverymode=1 Example:
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Enter recovery mode. |
Step 4 |
loader> dir Example:
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Verify that the two images are present in bootflash. In the example output shown, the following images are shown:
As described in About Booting Switches with Multi-Image, you could also have a switch with the current NX-OS image as the first image and a long-lived Cisco ACI image as the second image. |
Step 5 |
loader> boot image-file Example:
|
Boot using one of the two images in bootflash. This example shows a boot sequence using an NX-OS image, which brings you to the NX-OS startup configuration. From here, configure the NX-OS environment, if necessary. |
Step 6 |
Log in to the switch. Example:
|
— |
Step 7 |
switch# show version Example:
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Verify that you booted into the correct image in bootflash. |
Step 8 |
switch# reload Example:
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If you want to boot into the other image, reboot the switch. |
Step 9 |
loader> dir Example:
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Locate the other image that is present in bootflash. |
Step 10 |
loader> boot image-file Example:
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Boot using the other image in bootflash. This example shows a boot sequence using an ACI image, which brings you to the ACI prompt. |