The USB console port is the default management port and is supported in both install and boot loader modes. Before using the USB port, download the required driver to your PC from Cisco.com:http://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=282979369&softwareid=282855122&release=3.1. The default console port speed setting is baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, and no flow control. Cisco 3850 Console Port – USB/RJ45. When I attempted to use it I first installed the USB driver provided by Cisco, everything seemed to work, but I could not open the com port.

1. Cisco Mini Usb Console Driver

Some time ago, ZDNet's George Ou wrote an innovative article for TechRepublic about using USB flash drives or compact flash (CF) cards to upgrade a router. This week, I want to take that article a step further. Here's how I used my USB flash drive with my Cisco 871W router.

A little background

Before we get started, let's review some of the specifics you need to know about using USB flash and CF cards with Cisco routers. You can find much of this in George's article, but here's a recap:

Likening it to the music from the band's fourth album, he called the song a 'close cousin to [.], albeit with a rejuvenated energy and very forward-looking approach'. 's Collin Brennan called it an 'anthem' reminiscent of 'latter-day '. Music video [ ] The music video was directed by Sing J. Lee and shot in. In similar fashion, 's Andrew Trendell described the song as a 'driving and pulsing piano-led arena power-anthem'.

• Many of the newer 800, 1800, 2800, and 3800 series routers support USB Flash. 800 series routers don't support CF, but they do support USB flash.
• The Cisco IOS can only read FAT-formatted flash drives.
• The IOS may not recognize the proper size of your USB flash drive. However, it doesn't really matter — you have much more space with today's USB flash drives than you could ever use.
• While using USB flash and CF cards are a great way to transfer data to and from a router, you obviously must have physical access to the router.
• The USB ports on a router are usually USB 2.0, but check the specifications.
• Some routers with certain IOS versions support Aladdin eTokens.

Ideally, USB flash can hold multiple copies of the Cisco IOS and multiple router configurations, and you can use it to easily move and copy those IOS files and configurations from router to router. And many times, when you're physically at the router, the copying process can take place several times faster than it would over a LAN or WAN.

My experience

I have a new 4-GB USB flash drive that I recently bought for about $40. I had used this drive on my Window Vista PC to back up and transport data.

I wondered if I could easily copy or back up the Cisco IOS from my 871W onto another 871W without configuring network settings on the router, plugging it into the network, running a TFTP server on my PC, and copying the IOS over. I wanted to just plug in the USB drive and copy off the IOS, just as I would on my PC with any other file.

I'll be honest: Like most techies out there, I abhor reading directions. I save that until something absolutely, positively doesn't work. Admittedly, I had only skimmed George's article, and it had been some time since I had done even that. (Yes, I confess: I didn't read it thoroughly until after this experiment.)

So, like most new gadgets I try out for the first time, I just plugged it in to see what would happen. While on the console of my Cisco 871W, I took the USB flash drive from my pocket and connected it to the router. Immediately, the router told me this:

Cisco Mini Usb Console Driver

Actually, this was a pleasant surprise: At least, the router knew there was a USB flash drive connected, it knew it didn't work, and it knew why it didn't work.

Later, I found out that the drive wouldn't work because of its NTFS format. As mentioned above, it needed a FAT format — the Cisco IOS only recognizes the FAT file system. As I already knew that I didn't need anything on this flash drive, I formatted the flash drive with the router. (I could have also formatted the flash drive with a PC as long as I specified the FAT file system.)

Here's what it looked like:

At this point, as you can see below, I had a working USB flash drive.

Next, I copied my 871W IOS from the internal flash and to the USB flash. Here's what it looked like:

At this point, I had my 17-MB Cisco IOS on my flash drive. I could then take it and plug it into any other router and quickly copy that IOS without going through any network configuration or connecting that router to the network.

Some helpful commands

Here are some commands that can come in handy, along with links to their Cisco documentation:

Summary

A USB flash drive offers cheap, easy storage space for your Cisco routers to hold the Cisco IOS, configuration files, and security certificates. However, what interests me even more is that it frees us from the limitations of only having 16 MB, 128 MB, or 256 MB of storage on our routers. These limitations have defined our work for so long that the lack of them suddenly opens up so many more possibilities.

What do you think? Have you used a USB flash drive with your Cisco routers? Share your own experiences in the discussion area.

David Davis has worked in the IT industry for 12 years and holds several certifications, including CCIE, MCSE+I, CISSP, CCNA, CCDA, and CCNP. He currently manages a group of systems/network administrators for a privately owned retail company and performs networking/systems consulting on a part-time basis.

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