Upgrade Guide for Cisco Catalyst 9000 Series Switches and Smart Switches

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Upgrade Guide for Cisco Catalyst 9000 Series Switches and Smart Switches

Recover from ROMMON or bootloader failures

Updated: August 1, 2026

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Guides you through diagnosing ROMMON or bootloader failures, validating INSTALL-mode provisioning files, and temporarily booting a known-good image from local or USB media when no valid provisioning file exists.

Use this procedure to diagnose ROMMON or bootloader failures, validating install-mode provisioning files, and temporarily booting a known-good image from local or USB media when no valid provisioning file exists.

Procedure

  1. Confirm ROMMON or bootloader failure.

    Example:

    
boot: attempting to boot from [flash:packages.conf]
ERROR: failed to boot from flash:packages.conf (Not Found)

    The typical symptom for ROMMON or bootloader failure includes these error messages on the device console.

  2. Confirm that the packages.conf file is present and that every referenced .pkg file is present.

    Example:

    
switch: dir flash:
...
packages.conf
cat9k-rpboot.<RELEASE>.SPA.pkg
cat9k-rpbase.<RELEASE>.SPA.pkg

  3. Boot the validated install-mode provisioning file if a valid packages.conf file exists.

    Example:

    
switch: boot flash:packages.conf

  4. Temporarily boot a known-good image when no valid provisioning file exists.

    • Boot a known-good local image from flash. 
      switch: boot flash:<KNOWN_GOOD_IMAGE.bin>

      This can temporarily boot the monolithic image. After the IOS XE operating system starts, verify the image and use the supported procedure to restore INSTALL mode.

    • Boot a known-good USB image from a supported USB media. 
      
switch: dir usbflash0:
switch: boot usbflash0:<KNOWN_GOOD_IMAGE.bin>

      Use the exact platform recovery guide. Direct boot does not automatically create a correct persistent INSTALL-mode state.

    If no validated boot file exists, stop and use the exact Cisco platform recovery procedure or contact Cisco Support. Do not format the flash or use emergency-install process. It can erase software, files, and configuration and platform restrictions also apply.