Cisco Routers for the Desperate, 2nd Edition

Upgrade Preparations

Before upgrading, make sure that you have an FTP or SCP (SSH) server available close to the router. (The official Cisco documentation discusses using a TFTP server, but FTP is far more secure than TFTP, and SCP is even more secure.) You'll need a user account and password on that FTP or SCP server along with a few megs of disk space. If you don't have FTP or SCP server software, you'll find dozens of free programs on sites like http://www.tucows.com and http://www.freshmeat.net. If you must set up a server, I recommend choosing SCP. If something goes wrong, you'll need an emergency Internet connection. Although Cisco's website has extensive disaster recovery documentation, it will be largely useless if you don't have Internet ...