3-2
Ethernet Card Software Feature and Configuration Guide, R7.2
January 2009
Chapter 3 Initial Configuration
Cisco IOS on the ML-Series Card
Cisco IOS on the ML-Series Card
The Cisco IOS software image used by the ML-Series card is not permanently stored on the ML-Series
card but in the flash memory of the TCC2/TCC2P card. During a hard reset, when a card is physically
removed and reinserted or power is otherwise lost to the card, the Cisco IOS softw are image is downloa ded
from the flash memory of the TCC2/TCC2P to the memory cache of the ML-Series card. The cached
image is then decompressed and initialized for use by the ML-Series card.
During a soft reset, when the ML-Series card is reset through CTC or the Cisco IOS command line
interface (CLI) command reload, the ML-Series card checks its cache for a Cisco IOS image. If a valid
and current Cisco IOS image exists, the ML-Series card decompresses and initializes the image. If the
image does not exist, the ML-Series requests a new copy of the Cisco IOS image from the TCC2/TCC2P.
Caching the Cisco IOS image provides a significant time savings when a warm rese t is performed.
There are four ways to access the ML-Series card Cisco IOS configuration. The two out -of-band options
are opening a Cisco IOS session on CTC and telnetting to the node IP Address and slot number plus
2000. The two-in-band signalling options are telnetting to a configured management interface and
directly connecting to the console port.

Opening a Cisco IOS Session Using CTC

Users can initiate a Cisco IOS CLI session for the ML-Series card using CTC. Click the IOS tab at the
card-level CTC view, then click the Open IOS Command Line Interface (CLI) button (Figure 3-1). A
window opens and a standard Cisco IOS CLI User EXEC command mode prompt appears.
Note A Cisco IOS startup configuration file must be loaded and the ML-Series card must be installed and
initialized prior to opening a Cisco IOS CLI session on CTC. See the “Startup Configuration File”
section on page 3-7 for more information.