Cisco CPA2501 User Manual page 56

Booting the Router for the First Time
Booting the Router for the First Time
Each time you power on the router, it goes through the following boot sequence:
The router goes through power-on self-test diagnostics to verify basic operation of the
1
CPU, memory, and interfaces.
The system bootstrap software (boot image) executes and searches for a valid Cisco IOS
2
image (router operating system software). The source of the Cisco IOS image (Flash
memory or a Trivial File Transfer Protocol [TFTP] server) is determined by the
configuration register setting. The factory-default setting for the configuration register
is 0x2102, which indicates that the router should attempt to load a Cisco IOS image
from Flash memory.
3 If after five attempts a valid Cisco IOS image is not found in Flash memory, the router
reverts to boot ROM mode (which is used to install or upgrade a Cisco IOS image).
If a valid Cisco IOS image is found, then the router searches for a valid configuration
4
file.
5 If a valid configuration file is not found in NVRAM, the router runs the System
Configuration Dialog so you can configure it manually. For normal router operation,
there must be a valid Cisco IOS image in Flash memory and a configuration file in
NVRAM.
The first time you boot your router, you will need to configure the router interfaces and then
save the configuration to a file in NVRAM.
Configuring the Router for the First Time
You can configure the router using one of the following procedures, which are described in
this section:
•
System Configuration Dialog—Recommended if you are not familiar with Cisco IOS
commands.
•
Configuration mode—Recommended if you are familiar with Cisco IOS commands.
•
AutoInstall—Recommended for automatic installation if another router running
Cisco IOS software is installed on the network. This configuration method must be set
up by someone with experience using Cisco IOS software.
4-2 Router Installation and Configuration Guide