B-5
Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide
78-14982-01
Appendix B Working with the IOS File S ys tem, Configurat ion Files, and Soft w are Images Working with the Flash File System
To delete a directory with all its files and subdirectories, use the delete /force /recursive
filesystem:/file-url privileged EXEC command.
Use t he /recursive keyword to delete the named directory and all subdirectories and the files cont ained
in it. Use the /force keyword to suppress the pr omptin g that co nfirms a deletion of each file in the
direc tory. You are promp ted only onc e at the beginni ng of this deletio n proce ss. Use the /force and
/recursive keywords fo r deleting ol d software im ages that were inst alled by using the archive
download-sw com mand but a re n o l o nger ne ed ed .
For filesystem, use flash: for th e s y st em b oa rd Fla s h device. Fo r file-url, enter th e n am e of th e directory
to be delete d. All the files in the di recto ry and the dire ctory are removed.
Caution When files and direct ories ar e delete d, their con tents ca nnot be re covered.

Copying Files

To copy a file fr om a s our ce to a dest i na tio n, use t he copy [/erase] source-ur l des t i n a t i o n-url pri vileged
EXEC command. For the source and destination URLs, you can use running-config and startup-config
keyword shortcuts. For example, the copy running-conf ig startup-conf ig comm and sa ves the curre ntly
running c onfigura tio n file t o th e NVR AM sec tion of Flash m em ory to be us ed as t he co nfigurat ion
during system initialization.
You can also copy to and from special file systems (xmodem:, ymodem:) as the sour ce or dest ination
for the file from a network ma chine t hat uses th e XMODE M or YM ODEM pr otocol.
Network file system URLs include ftp:, rcp:, an d tftp: and have these syntaxes:
File Tran sfer Protocol (FT P)—ftp:[[//username [:password]@location]/directory]/filename
Remote C opy Pr otocol (RCP) —rcp:[[//username@location]/directory]/filename
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)—tftp:[[//location]/directory]/filename
Loca l w rit a ble file sy stem s in cl ud e fla sh: .
Some invalid comb ination s of source and destina tion exist. Specifical ly, you cannot copy thes e
combinations:
•From a runni ng configurat ion to a ru nning configura tion
•From a startup configuration to a startup configuration
•From a device to the same device (for example, the copy flash: flash: com man d is i nvalid )
For specific example s of using th e copy command with configuration files, see the “Working with
Configuration Files” section on page B-8.
To copy software images e ither by download ing a new version or upl oading the existing one , use the
archiv e download-sw or the archive upload-sw pri vile ged EXEC co mmand. F or more info rmation, see
the “Wo rkin g wi th S oftwa re Im age s” se ctio n on pa ge B-20.

Deleting Files

When you n o lo nge r need a file on a Flash m em ory d evice, you can per ma nent ly d ele te it. To de lete a
file or direct ory fro m a spec ified Flas h device, us e the delete [/force] [/recursive] [filesystem:]/file-url
privileged EXEC command.