Learn Cisco CLI – Part 8 – Backing Up Configurations Using TFTP

Learn Cisco CLI - Part 8

Backing Up Configurations Using TFTP

These blog posts I created to help me as a reference tool, as well as a way of retaining the knowledge. If you find it useful that’s just a plus.

Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a simplified version of the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) used to transfer files between devices on a network. TFTP does not require authentication and is commonly used for transferring configuration files, firmware updates, and boot files. In the context of Cisco networking, TFTP is often used to back up running or startup configurations from routers and switches to a TFTP server, as well as to restore configurations.

Backup and Restore Commands

Copy Running-Config

Copies the current running configuration to the startup configuration or a TFTP server. This is useful for creating a backup of the current configuration.

				
					Syntax:
copy running-config startup-config
copy running-config tftp://[server-ip]/[filename]

[server-ip]: The IP address of the TFTP server where the configuration will be stored.
[filename]: The name of the file that will store the configuration on the TFTP server.

Example 1: Backing up the running configuration to the startup configuration.

				
					Router1>enable
Router1#copy running-config startup-config

Example 2: Backing up the running configuration to a TFTP server.

				
					Router1>enable
Router1#copy running-config tftp://192.168.1.100/router-config-backup

Example Output:

				
					Address or name of remote host []? 192.168.1.100
Destination filename [router-config-backup]? router-config-backup
!!
[OK - 1234 bytes]

Copy TFTP

Copies a configuration file from a TFTP server to the running or startup configuration of the device. This is used to restore a configuration from a backup.

				
					Syntax:
copy tftp://[server-ip]/[filename] running-config
copy tftp://[server-ip]/[filename] startup-config

[server-ip]: The IP address of the TFTP server where the configuration file is stored.
[filename]: The name of the configuration file to be restored.

Example 1: Restoring the running configuration from a TFTP server.

				
					Router1>enable
Router1#copy tftp://192.168.1.100/router-config-backup running-config

Example 2: Restoring the startup configuration from a TFTP server.

				
					Router1>enable
Router1#copy tftp://192.168.1.100/router-config-backup startup-config

Example Output:

				
					Address or name of remote host []? 192.168.1.100
Source filename []? router-config-backup
Destination filename [running-config]? running-config
!!
[OK - 1234 bytes]

Verification Commands

Show Running-config

Displays the active configuration file, allowing you to verify the current settings before or after a backup or restoration.

				
					Syntax:
show running-config

Example:

				
					Router1>enable
Router1#show running-config

Ping

Sends an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request to test connectivity to the TFTP server before initiating a backup or restoration.

				
					Syntax:
ping [ip-address]