Cisco IOS - Transfer config files between a Cisco router or switch using an FTP server

by
Jeremy Canfield |
Updated: March 09 2020
| Cisco IOS articles
When configuring a Cisco router or switch, a variety of things can be configured:
- Hostname
- Message of the day (MOTD)
- IP address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway
Instead of manually configuring a router a switch, configuration files can be transferred between routers and switches. For example, let's say we have a router or switch that is already configured. We can create a file that contains the configuration of the router or switch, and then send the configuration file to an FTP server.
- On the already configured router or switch, use the copy running-config ftp command to open an FTP connection to an FTP server
- When prompted, enter the name or IP address of the FTP server: Address or name of remote host []? 192.168.0.3
- When prompted to enter the destination filename, you can press Enter to use the default filename: Destination filename [example-config]?
Now that the example-config file is on the FTP server, the new router or switch can download the example-config file from the FTP server.
- On the new router or switch, use the copy ftp running-config command to open an FTP connection to an FTP server
- When prompted, enter the name or IP address of the FTP server: Address or name of remote host []? 192.168.0.3
- When prompted for the source filename, type the source file: Source filename []? example-config
- When prompted for the destination filename, press enter to use the default filename: Destination filename [running-config]?
The new router or switch should display the download:
Accessing ftp://192.168.0.3/
example-confg...Loading example-config from 192.168.0.3: !
[OK - 785 bytes]785 bytes copied in 0 secs
R2#%SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by console
R2#
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