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The flash file system
is a single flash device on which you can store files. It also provides several
commands to help you manage software bundles and configuration files. The
default flash file system on the
device is named flash:.
As viewed from the active device, flash: refers to the local flash device, which is the device attached to the same device on which the file system is being viewed.
Only one user at a time can manage the software bundles and configuration files .
Displaying Available File Systems
To display the available file systems on your device, use the show file systems privileged EXEC command as shown in this example for a standalone device:
This example shows a device stack. In this example, the active device is stack member 1; the file system on stack member 2 is displayed as flash-2:, the file system on stack member 3 is displayed
as flash-3: and so on up to . The example also shows the crashinfo directories and a USB flash drive plugged into the active
device:
Device# show file systems
File Systems:
Size(b) Free(b) Type Flags Prefixes
145898496 5479424 disk rw crashinfo:crashinfo-1:
248512512 85983232 disk rw crashinfo-2:stby-crashinfo:
146014208 17301504 disk rw crashinfo-3:
146014208 0 disk rw crashinfo-4:
146014208 1572864 disk rw crashinfo-5:
248512512 30932992 disk rw crashinfo-6:
146014208 6291456 disk rw crashinfo-7:
146276352 15728640 disk rw crashinfo-8:
146276352 73400320 disk rw crashinfo-9:
* 741621760 481730560 disk rw flash:flash-1:
1622147072 1360527360 disk rw flash-2:stby-flash:
729546752 469762048 disk rw flash-3:
729546752 469762048 disk rw flash-4:
729546752 469762048 disk rw flash-5:
1622147072 1340604416 disk rw flash-6:
729546752 469762048 disk rw flash-7:
1749549056 1487929344 disk rw flash-8:
1749549056 1487929344 disk rw flash-9:
0 0 disk rw unix:
- - disk rw usbflash0:usbflash0-1:
- - disk rw usbflash0-2: stby-usbflash0:
- - disk rw usbflash0-3:
- - disk rw usbflash0-4:
- - disk rw usbflash0-5:
- - disk rw usbflash0-6:
- - disk rw usbflash0-7:
- - disk rw usbflash0-8:
- - disk rw usbflash0-9:
0 0 disk ro webui:
- - opaque rw system:
- - opaque rw tmpsys:
2097152 2055643 nvram rw stby-nvram:
- - nvram rw stby-rcsf:
- - opaque rw null:
- - opaque ro tar:
- - network rw tftp:
2097152 2055643 nvram rw nvram:
- - opaque wo syslog:
- - network rw rcp:
- - network rw http:
- - network rw ftp:
- - network rw scp:
- - network rw https:
- - opaque ro cns:
- - opaque rw revrcsf:
Table 1. show file systems Field Descriptions
Field
Value
Size(b)
Amount of memory in the file system in bytes.
Free(b)
Amount of free memory in the file system in bytes.
Type
Type of file system.
disk—The file system is for a flash memory device, USB flash, and crashinfo file.
network—The file system for network devices; for example, an FTP server or and HTTP server.
nvram—The file system is for a NVRAM device.
opaque—The file system is a locally generated pseudo file system (for example, the system) or a download interface, such as brimux.
unknown—The file system is an unknown type.
Flags
Permission for file system.
ro—read-only.
rw—read/write.
wo—write-only.
Prefixes
Alias for file system.
crashinfo:—Crashinfo file.
flash:—Flash file system.
ftp:—FTP server.
http:—HTTP server.
https:—Secure HTTP server.
nvram:—NVRAM.
null:—Null destination for copies. You can copy a remote file to null to find its size.
rcp:—Remote Copy Protocol (RCP) server.
scp:—Session Control Protocol (SCP) server.
system:—Contains the system memory, including the running configuration.
tftp:—TFTP network server.
usbflash0:—USB flash memory.
xmodem:—Obtain the file from a network machine by using the Xmodem protocol.
ymodem:—Obtain the file from a network machine by using the Ymodem protocol.
Setting the Default File System
You can specify the file system or directory that the system uses as the default file system by using the cdfilesystem: privileged EXEC command. You can set the default file system to omit the filesystem: argument from related commands. For example, for all privileged EXEC commands that have the optional filesystem: argument, the system uses the file system specified by the cd command.
By default, the default file system is flash:.
You can display the current default file system as specified by the cd command by using the pwd privileged EXEC command.
Displaying
Information About Files on a File System
You can view a list of
the contents of a file system before manipulating its contents. For example,
before copying a new configuration file to flash memory, you might want to
verify that the file system does not already contain a configuration file with
the same name. Similarly, before copying a flash configuration file to another
location, you might want to verify its filename for use in another command. To
display information about files on a file system, use one of the privileged
EXEC commands listed in the following table.
Table 2. Commands for
Displaying Information About Files
Command
Description
dir [/all] [filesystem:filename]
Displays a
list of files on a file system.
show file systems
Displays more
information about each of the files on a file system.
show file informationfile-url
Displays
information about a specific file.
show file descriptors
Displays a
list of open file descriptors. File descriptors are the internal
representations of open files. You can use this command to see if another user
has a file open.
For example, to display a list of all
files in a file system, use the
dir privileged
EXEC command:
device# dir flash:
Directory of flash:/
7386 -rwx 2097152 Jan 23 2013 14:06:49 +00:00 nvram_config
7378 drwx 4096 Jan 23 2013 09:35:11 +00:00 mnt
7385 -rw- 221775876 Jan 23 2013 14:15:13 +00:00 cat3k_caa-universalk9.SSA.03.12.02.EZP.150-12.02.EZP.150-12.02.EZP.bin
7389 -rwx 556 Jan 21 2013 20:47:30 +00:00 vlan.dat
712413184 bytes total (445063168 bytes free)
device#
Changing Directories and
Displaying the Working Directory
Follow these steps
to change directories and to display the working directory:
Procedure
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
enable
Example:
Device> enable
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2
dirfilesystem:
Example:
Device# dir flash:
Displays the
directories on the specified file system.
For
filesystem:, use flash: for the system board flash device.
To access flash partitions of device members in a stack, use flash-n where n is the stack member number. For example, flash-4.
Step 3
cddirectory_name
Example:
Device# cd new_configs
Navigates to
the specified directory.
The command
example shows how to navigate to the directory named
new_configs.
Step 4
pwd
Example:
Device# pwd
Displays the
working directory.
Step 5
cd
Example:
Device# cd
Navigates to
the default directory.
Creating Directories
Beginning in
privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to create a directory:
Procedure
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
dirfilesystem:
Example:
Device# dir flash:
Displays the
directories on the specified file system.
For
filesystem:, use flash: for the system board flash device.
Step 2
mkdirdirectory_name
Example:
Device# mkdir new_configs
Creates a new
directory. Directory names are case sensitive and are limited to 45 characters
between the slashes (/); the name cannot contain control characters, spaces,
slashes, quotes, semicolons, or colons.
Step 3
dirfilesystem:
Example:
Device# dir flash:
Verifies your
entry.
Removing Directories
To remove a directory with all its files and subdirectories, use the delete /force /recursivefilesystem:/file-url privileged EXEC command.
Use the /recursive keyword to delete the named directory and all subdirectories and the files contained in it. Use the /force keyword to suppress the prompting that confirms a deletion of each file in the directory. You are prompted only once at the
beginning of this deletion process.
For filesystem, use flash: for the system board flash device. For file-url, enter the name of the directory to be deleted. All of the files in the directory and the directory are removed.
Caution
When directories are deleted, their contents cannot be recovered.
Copying Files
To copy a file from a source to a destination, use the copy source-url destination-url privileged EXEC command. For the source and destination URLs, you can use running-config and startup-config keyword shortcuts. For example, the copy running-config startup-config command saves the currently running configuration file to the NVRAM section of flash memory to be used as the configuration
during system initialization.
You can also copy from special file systems (xmodem:, ymodem:) as the source for the file from a network machine that uses the Xmodem or Ymodem protocol.
Network file system URLs include ftp:, rcp:, tftp:, scp:, http:, and https: and have these syntaxes:
The password must not contain the special character '@'. If the character '@' is used, the copy fails to parse the IP address
of the server.
Local writable file systems include flash:.
Some invalid combinations of source and destination exist. Specifically, you cannot copy these combinations:
From a running configuration to a running configuration
From a startup configuration to a startup configuration
From a device to the same device (for example, the copy flash: flash: command is invalid)
Copying Files from One Device in a Stack to Another Device in the Same Stack
To copy a file from one device in a stack to another device in the same stack, use the flash-X: notation, where X is the device number.
To view all devicees in a stack, use the show switch command in privileged EXEC mode, as in the following example of a 9-member device stack:
To view all file systems available to copy on a specific device, use the copy command as in the following example of a 5-member stack:
Device# copy flash: ?
crashinfo-1: Copy to crashinfo-1: file system
crashinfo-2: Copy to crashinfo-2: file system
crashinfo-3: Copy to crashinfo-3: file system
crashinfo-4: Copy to crashinfo-4: file system
crashinfo-5: Copy to crashinfo-5: file system
crashinfo: Copy to crashinfo: file system
flash-1: Copy to flash-1: file system
flash-2: Copy to flash-2: file system
flash-3: Copy to flash-3: file system
flash-4: Copy to flash-4: file system
flash-5: Copy to flash-5: file system
flash: Copy to flash: file system
ftp: Copy to ftp: file system
http: Copy to http: file system
https: Copy to https: file system
null: Copy to null: file system
nvram: Copy to nvram: file system
rcp: Copy to rcp: file system
revrcsf: Copy to revrcsf: file system
running-config Update (merge with) current system configuration
scp: Copy to scp: file system
startup-config Copy to startup configuration
stby-crashinfo: Copy to stby-crashinfo: file system
stby-flash: Copy to stby-flash: file system
stby-nvram: Copy to stby-nvram: file system
stby-rcsf: Copy to stby-rcsf: file system
stby-usbflash0: Copy to stby-usbflash0: file system
syslog: Copy to syslog: file system
system: Copy to system: file system
tftp: Copy to tftp: file system
tmpsys: Copy to tmpsys: file system
usbflash0-1: Copy to usbflash0-1: file system
usbflash0-2: Copy to usbflash0-2: file system
usbflash0-3: Copy to usbflash0-3: file system
usbflash0-4: Copy to usbflash0-4: file system
usbflash0-5: Copy to usbflash0-5: file system
usbflash0: Copy to usbflash0: file system
Device#
This example shows how to copy a config file stored in the flash partition of device 2 to the flash partition of device 4. It assumes that device 2 and device 4 are in the same stack.
When you no longer need a file on a flash memory device, you can permanently delete it. To delete a file or directory from
a specified flash device, use the delete [/force] [/recursive] [filesystem:]/file-url privileged EXEC command.
Use the /recursive keyword for deleting a directory and all subdirectories and the files contained in it. Use the /force keyword to suppress the prompting that confirms a deletion of each file in the directory. You are prompted only once at the
beginning of this deletion process. Use the /force and /recursive keywords for deleting old software images that were installed by using the archive download-sw command but are no longer needed.
If you omit the filesystem: option, the device uses the default device specified by the cd command. For file-url, you specify the path (directory) and the name of the file to be deleted.
When you attempt to delete any files, the system prompts you to confirm the deletion.
Caution
When files are deleted, their contents cannot be recovered.
This example shows how to delete the file myconfig from the default flash memory device:
Device# delete myconfig
Creating, Displaying and
Extracting Files
You can create a
file and write files into it, list the files in a file, and extract the files
from a file as described in the next sections.
Beginning in
privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to create a file, display the
contents, and extract it:
Procedure
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
archive tar
/createdestination-urlflash:/file-url
Example:
device# archive tar /create
tftp:172.20.10.30/saved.
flash:/new-configs
Creates a file
and adds files to it.
For
destination-url, specify the destination URL alias for the local or network
file system and the name of the file to create:
For
flash:/file-url,
specify the location on the local flash file system in which the new file is
created. You can also specify an optional list of files or directories within
the source directory to add to the new file. If none are specified, all files
and directories at this level are written to the newly created file.
Step 2
archive tar
/tablesource-url
Example:
device# archive tar /table
flash: /new_configs
Displays the
contents of a file.
For
source-url,
specify the source URL alias for the local or network file system. The
-filename. is
the file to display. These options are supported:
You can also
limit the file displays by specifying a list of files or directories after the
file. Only those files appear. If none are specified, all files and directories
appear.
Step 3
archive
tar /xtractsource-url flash:/file-url [dir/file...]
Example:
device# archive tar /xtract
tftp:/172.20.10.30/saved.
flash:/new-configs
Extracts a file
into a directory on the flash file system.
For
source-url,
specify the source URL alias for the local file system. The
-filename. is
the file from which to extract files. These options are supported:
For
flash:/file-url
[dir/file...] , specify the location on the local
flash file system from which the file is extracted. Use the
dir/file...
option to specify a list of files or directories within the file to be
extracted. If none are specified, all files and directories are extracted.
Step 4
more [
/ascii | /binary | /ebcdic] /file-url
Example:
device# more
flash:/new-configs
Displays the
contents of any readable file, including a file on a remote file system.
No new or
modified RFCs are supported by this feature, and support for existing RFCs has
not been modified by this feature.
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