Cisco IOS - Working With Text Files#
Generally when working with a Cisco device's text configuration files, the files are copied to the device using methods like SCP,FTP or TFTP.
However many times I have found myself in a situation where I do not have a server available to me to copy files to/from.
Its also common I cannot create a server due to security restraints or having no available compute resources.
Its also sometimes quicker to create a configuration file on a device instead of copying via other methods.
Reading Files#
The more command can be used to output the contents of a text file to the console. This is useful for reading any files already stored on a devices flash.
hq-ios-nr-01#more flash:config-backup.ios
!
! Last configuration change at 18:59:28 UTC Sun Nov 10 2024
!
version 15.6
service timestamps debug datetime msec
service timestamps log datetime msec
no service password-encryption
!
hostname hq-ios-nr-01
!
boot-start-marker
boot-end-marker
!
!
.....
hq-ios-nr-01#more flash:config-backup.ios | s line
line con 0
line aux 0
line vty 0 4
privilege level 15
login local
transport input ssh
Creating Files#
For devices which do not have any container or linux guest shell capabilities you can use the TCL shell to create files.
hq-ios-nr-01(tcl)#puts [open "flash:config-new.ios" w+] {
+>version 15.6
+>service timestamps debug datetime msec
+>service timestamps log datetime msec
+>service password-encryption
+>!
+>hostname hq-ios-nr-01-new
+>!
+>boot-start-marker
+>boot-end-marker
.....
+>}
hq-ios-nr-01(tcl)#tclquit
Summary#
The above commands are available on almost all Cisco IOS devices, so hopefully this can save you some time in the future. The above methods are particularly useful when working with automatic configuration archives and the config replace command for device configuration rollbacks.