Cisco IOS-XE based Router/Switch updating IOS in install mode
With IOS-XE based network devices, Cisco introduced a new way to run the operating system which is called "install mode" . The old/legacy way to load the operating system is still there which is now called "bundle mode" . The recommended way to run the OS in IOS-XE based devices is install mode. With the new "install mode" all the operating system files are already extracted as "pkg" files and they are loaded into the device's memory using a provisioning file named "packages.conf" . As OS files are already extracted and directly loaded into the memory; this mode has faster boot time and consumes less RAM than bundle mode (legacy) and is the recommended method. Cisco has long list of documentation; how to use "install mode" in the network devices. In today's post I will show how to use install mode during firmware update where the network administrator has full control. Let's introduce our topology - Topology