System information

Troubleshooting Booting Problems
Book Title
3-48
Booting: Router Cannot Netboot from Another Router
Symptom: A router cannot boot properly when a user is booting from another router that is acting
as a TFTP server.
Note This symptom can be caused by any of the problems outlined in the sections on netbooting in
this chapter. This section focuses on problems with the router that is acting as a TFTP server.
Table 3-14 outlines the problems that might cause this symptom and describes solutions to those
problems.
Missing or
misconfigured default
gateway specification
Step 1 Use the show running-config privileged exec command to view the router
configuration. Check for the ip default-gateway global configuration command,
which defines a default gateway.
Syntax:
ip default-gateway ip-address
Syntax Description:
• ip-address—IP address of the router.
Step 2 If the command is missing, add it to the configuration. If the command is present,
make sure it specifies the correct IP address.
Misconfigured
boot system
command
Step 1 Use the show running-config privileged exec command to view the router
configuration. Check the boot server address (IP address of a TFTP server or MAC
1
address of a MOP
2
server) that is configured on the router.
Step 2 If the address is specified incorrectly, specify the correct boot server address using
the boot system global configuration command.
Wrong filename is
specified
Step 1 Use the show running-config privileged exec command to view the router
configuration. Check the boot filename that is configured on the router.
Step 2 Make sure the filename is specified correctly. Change the filename if necessary.
Check the host documentation for details about setting the name of the system
image on the TFTP server.
Step 3 Some versions of the ROM are case sensitive. Try changing the case of the
filename. Contact your technical support representative for more information.
Incorrectconfiguration
register setting
To netboot from a server, you must set the configuration register properly. The specific
configuration for netbooting depends on the platform that is being booted.
Step 1 Check the configuration register setting for your system.
Step 2 Determine whether you want to manually or automatically netboot from a TFTP
server.
To manually netboot, the configuration register must be set to 0x0; otherwise, you
will be netbooting using the default system image name or the image specified by
the boot system global configuration command.
Refer to the Cisco IOS configuration guides and command references and your hardware
installation and maintenance publications for more details about setting the configuration
register.
1 MAC = Media Access Control
2 MOP = Maintenance Operation Protocol
Possible Problem Solution