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This is the first experiment since I received the Cisco switch. No much pre-requested knowledge is necessary so I just use the tftp server / client  and putty software (Hyper-terminal from Windows is fine) to conduct the upgrading processes.

I know and understand that there is a guide on Cisco website but some of the command are not working due to the typos. I’ll write one myself.

This is a guide mainly for C3550 but it’s a similar procedure on C2950-EMI switch. The only difference is the IP settings.

1. Check the and backup the system image.

The red font displays the image that system currently in-use (It’s a SMI version of switch but with EMI installed).

Switch>en
Switch#sh version
Cisco IOS Software, C3550 Software (C3550-IPSERVICESK9-M), Version 12.2(25)SEE3, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc2)
Copyright (c) 1986-2007 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Thu 22-Feb-07 15:35 by myl
Image text-base: 0x00003000, data-base: 0x00DC116C

ROM: Bootstrap program is C3550 boot loader

Switch uptime is 1 minute
System returned to ROM by power-on
System image file is “flash:c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE3/c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE3.bin”

This product contains cryptographic features and is subject to United
States and local country laws governing import, export, transfer and
use. Delivery of Cisco cryptographic products does not imply
third-party authority to import, export, distribute or use encryption.
Importers, exporters, distributors and users are responsible for
compliance with U.S. and local country laws. By using this product you
agree to comply with applicable laws and regulations. If you are unable
to comply with U.S. and local laws, return this product immediately.

A summary of U.S. laws governing Cisco cryptographic products may be found at:
http://www.cisco.com/wwl/export/crypto/tool/stqrg.html

If you require further assistance please contact us by sending email to
[email protected].

Cisco WS-C3550-48 (PowerPC) processor (revision G0) with 65526K/8192K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID CAT0*******
Last reset from warm-resetSE
Running Layer2/3 Switching Image

Ethernet-controller 1 has 12 Fast Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces
Ethernet-controller 2 has 12 Fast Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces
Ethernet-controller 3 has 12 Fast Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces
Ethernet-controller 4 has 12 Fast Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces
Ethernet-controller 5 has 1 Gigabit Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface
Ethernet-controller 6 has 1 Gigabit Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface

48 FastEthernet interfaces
2 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces

The password-recovery mechanism is enabled.
384K bytes of flash-simulated NVRAM.
Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:0B:5F:**:**:**
Motherboard assembly number: 73-5701-07
Power supply part number: 34-0967-01
Motherboard serial number: CAT0*******
Power supply serial number: DCA0*******
Model revision number: G0
Motherboard revision number: A0
Model number: WS-C3550-48-SMI
System serial number: CAT0*******
Configuration register is 0x10F

We need a basic IP settings to make a connection between PC and the switch. The basic IP settings can be referred to the Cisco official webpage: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/switches/catalyst-3550-series-switches/41541-190.html

We need to change TCP/IP V4 settings on the PC with the subnet 255.255.2550.0 with the IP address: 20.20.20.2.

switch# configure terminal
switch(config)# interface vlan 1

!— A Fast Ethernet interface is in VLAN 1.

switch(config-if)# ip address 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.0  <-Cisco website missing a “.0” (typo)
switch(config-if)# no shut
switch(config-if)# exit
switch(config)# ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 10.10.10.129

!— Issue this command as one way to establish
!— connectivity to a TFTP server on a different subnet or network.

switch(config)# end
switch#
switch# ping 20.20.20.2

!— Ping the IP address of the TFTP server
!— from the switch to verify connectivity.

Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 20.20.20.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/202/1000 ms

If we get the 100% success rate. We can run the tftp software and turn off the firewall settings, it will be a trouble maker. We can use the command line below to backup the original firmware:

archive tar /create tftp://20.20.20.2/c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE3.tar flash:/c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE3

Connection received from 10.10.10.1 on port 54669 [29/09 14:57:54.725]
Write request for file <c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE3.tar>. Mode octet [29/09 14:57:54.725]
Using local port 59555 [29/09 14:57:54.726]
<c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE3.tar>: rcvd 17645 blks, 9033728 bytes in 52 s. 0 blk resent [29/09 14:58:46.005]

If everything seems to be OK, it’s the time to have a FRESH INSTALL of the new firmware.

erase flash

========== System Recovery Process (optional reading) ==========

It is necessary to be patient as the system becomes unresponsive when the flash block is erasing. Mine just got stuck and I mistaken power-cycled the machine, which makes the system non-bootable.

Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:0b:**:**:**:**
Xmodem file system is available.
The password-recovery mechanism is enabled.
Initializing Flash…
flashfs[0]: 2 files, 3 directories
flashfs[0]: 0 orphaned files, 0 orphaned directories
flashfs[0]: Total bytes: 15998976
flashfs[0]: Bytes used: 76800
flashfs[0]: Bytes available: 15922176
flashfs[0]: flashfs fsck took 15 seconds.
…done Initializing Flash.
Boot Sector Filesystem (bs:) installed, fsid: 3
Loading “”…: permission denied

Error loading “”

Interrupt within 5 seconds to abort boot process.
Boot process failed…

The system is unable to boot automatically. The BOOT
environment variable needs to be set to a bootable
image.

The file system has been corrupted as I power-cycled the machine during the erase flash operation.

We need a Hyper-Terminal software, which is included in most of older version of Windows so I used 9600, N, 8, 1 settings to connect the switch, and issue two commands:

flash_init
load_helper

I cannot even use dir flash command, but it doesn’t matter.

We need to set baud rate to as high as possible to save the transferring time. It’s not a big deal for me as I’ve learnt a lot during programming work. ( 9600<19200<38400<57600<115200 )

Mine used 57600 as this is the highest baud rate possible on my machine. The 115200 create a lot of IO error and the transferring could not be completed.I used the latest version of EMI image instead.

set BAUD 57600

copy xmodem: flash:c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin

Since we issue the Xmodem transferring command so we must use “transfer->Send File” command to send the proper bin file. (Please just ignore the Chinese characters in the image below)

File “xmodem:” successfully copied to “flash:c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin”

We can boot from this file directly after we received the red font message.

boot flash:c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin

The booting message is shown below:

Boot Sector Filesystem (bs:) installed, fsid: 3
Loading “flash:c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin”…#…#

File “flash:c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin” uncompressed and installed, entry point: 0x3000
executing…

So we can back to the upgrading processes. This is because I prefer the complete image (the file ending with tar) so I need to erase the flash again and upload the complete image.

====================

Issue the following command:

archive download-sw /overwrite tftp://20.20.20.2/
YOUR-FILE-NAME.tar

Wait until the process is finished.

switch# configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
switch(config)# boot system flash:c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6/c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin

!— Note: This command should be on one line.
!— You use the directory/file name to set the boot system statement.

switch(config)# end
switch# write memory

Building configuration…
[OK]
switch# reload
Proceed with reload? [confirm]

And, you are done, congratulations!

Last but by no means least, I issued a system reset after I have done all of these stuff.

erase startup-config

========== C2950 IP Settings (optional reading) ==========

Referred to the Cisco Website, the terminal configurations on C2950 is slightly different.

I also used the IP address 10.10.10.100 on PC because the 20.20.20.2 was not working (ping got timed out on mine switch)

2950#conf t
2950(config)#int vlan 1

!— This example uses a FastEthernet interface in management VLAN 1.

2950(config-if)#ip address 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.0

!— This IP address must ideally be in the same subnet as the
!— TFTP server. In this example, the 2950 and the TFTP server
!— are on different subnets.

2950(config-if)#no shut
2950(config-if)#exit
2950(config)#ip default-gateway 10.10.10.129

!— Issue this command as one way to establish connectivity
!— to a TFTP server on a different subnet or network.

2950(config)#end
2950#
2950#ping 10.10.10.100

!— Ping the IP address of the TFTP server from the switch
!— to verify connectivity.

Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.10.10.100, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/3/4 ms

====================