Specifications

2-2
System Management Software Configuration Guide for Cisco IE 2000U and Connected Grid Switches
Chapter 2 Assigning the Switch IP Address and Default Gateway
Information About Assigning Switch Information
Boot Process
To start your switch, you need to follow the procedures in the hardware installation guide about installing
and powering on the switch and setting up the initial configuration (IP address, subnet mask, default
gateway, secret and Telnet passwords, and so forth) of the switch.
The normal boot process involves the operation of the boot loader software, which performs these
functions:
• Performs low-level CPU initialization. It initializes the CPU registers, which control where physical
memory is mapped, its quantity, its speed, and so forth.
• Performs power-on self-test (POST) for the CPU subsystem. It tests the CPU DRAM and the portion
of the flash device that makes up the flash file system.
• Initializes the flash file system on the system board.
• Loads a default operating system software image into memory and boots the switch.
Note For information about the Switch Boot Optimization feature, which minimizes switch boot time, see
Chapter 3, “Configuring Switch Boot Optimization.”
The boot loader provides access to the flash file system before the operating system is loaded. Normally,
the boot loader is used only to load, uncompress, and launch the operating system. After the boot loader
gives the operating system control of the CPU, the boot loader is not active until the next system reset
or power-on.
The switch has a removable compact flash card that stores the Cisco IOS software image and
configuration files. You can replace and upgrade the switch without reconfiguring it. Removing the
compact flash card does not interrupt switch operation. When the compact flash card is removed, you do
not have access to the flash file system, and any attempt to access it generates an error message. The
switch ships with the compact flash memory card installed and supports any size compact flash card.
Use the show flash: privileged EXEC command to display the compact flash file settings.
For information about how to remove or replace the compact flash memory card on the switch, see the
Cisco IE 2000U Switch Hardware Installation Guide.
The boot loader also provides trap-door access into the system if the operating system has problems
serious enough that it cannot be used. The trap-door mechanism provides enough access to the system
so that if it is necessary, you can format the flash file system, reinstall the operating system software
image by using the XMODEM Protocol, recover from a lost or forgotten password, and finally restart
the operating system. For more information, see the “Recovering from a Software Failure” section and
the “Recovering from a Lost or Forgotten Password” section in the “Troubleshooting” chapter in the
Cisco IOS Basics and File Management for Connected Grid Switches.
Note You can interrupt the automatic boot process by pressing the break key on the console after the flash file
system has initialized. If you configured the switch to manually boot from the boot loader mode, you
cannot use the break key to interrupt the boot process. The default configuration is the automatic boot
process. For more information, see the command reference listed in the “Related Documents” section on
page 2-25.
Note You can disable password recovery. For more information, see the “Disabling Password Recovery”
section in the Cisco Connected Grid Switches Security Software Configuration Guide.