Get the Cisco IOS software image from the download portal, note the MD5 of the image, and validate it on the local PC.Ĩ0M -rw-r-r. With SCP enabled on the Cisco device, you can copy the file from a local PC to devices without any server or application. There is a chance the firewall blocks the ports used by any of these previously mentioned protocols between source and destination devices. Sometimes in a secure environment, it is difficult to get to a TFTP/ FTP/ SFTP/ SCP server in order to copy the Cisco IOS image to routers and switches. The process for how to copy the Cisco IOS image file from the local Windows/ Linux/ macOS PC to Cisco routers and switches securely without the need for any external server or software like Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), or Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) is described in this document.

If your network is live, ensure that you understand the potential impact of any command. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. The information in this document is based on these software and hardware versions: Prerequisites RequirementsĬisco recommends that you have knowledge of Secure Shell (SSH) reachability to the device with privilege level 15 access. This document describes how to copy the Cisco IOS® image file from the local Windows/ Linux/ macOS PC to Cisco routers and switches securely.

Cisco router images