7-28
Cisco 3200 Series Router Hardware Reference
OL-5816-10
Chapter 7      Managing Firmware and Configurations
  Working with Software Images
RCP requires a client to send a remote username on each RCP request to a server. When you copy an 
image from the WMIC to a server by using RCP, the Cisco IOS software sends the first valid username 
in this list:
  • The username specified in the archive download-sw or archive upload-sw privileged EXEC 
command if a username is specified.
  • The username set by the ip rcmd remote-username username global configuration command if the 
command is entered.
  • The remote username associated with the current TTY (terminal) process. For example, if the user 
is connected to the router through Telnet and was authenticated through the username command, 
the WMIC software sends the Telnet username as the remote username. 
  • The WMIC hostname.
For the RCP copy request to execute successfully, an account must be defined on the network server for 
the remote username. If the server has a directory structure, the image file is written to or copied from 
the directory associated with the remote username on the server. For example, if the image file resides 
in the home directory of a user on the server, specify that user’s name as the remote username. 
Before you begin downloading or uploading an image file by using RCP, do these tasks:
  • Ensure that the workstation acting as the RCP server supports the remote shell (rsh).
  • Ensure that the WMIC has a route to the RCP server. The WMIC and the server must be in the same 
subnetwork if you do not have a router to route traffic between subnets. Check connectivity to the 
RCP server by using the ping command.
  • If you are accessing the WMIC through a Telnet session and you do not have a valid username, make 
sure that the current RCP username is the one that you want to use for the RCP download. You can 
enter the show users privileged EXEC command to view the valid username. If you do not want to 
use this username, create a new RCP username by using the ip rcmd remote-username username 
global configuration command to be used during all archive operations. The new username is stored 
in NVRAM. If you are accessing the WMIC through a Telnet session and you have a valid username, 
this username is used, and there is no need to set the RCP username. Include the username in the 
archive download-sw or archive upload-sw privileged EXEC command if you want to specify a 
username only for that operation. 
  • When you upload an image to the RCP to the server, it must be properly configured to accept the 
RCP write request from the user on the WMIC. For UNIX systems, you must add an entry to the 
.rhosts file for the remote user on the RCP server. For example, suppose the WMIC contains these 
configuration lines:
hostname ap1
ip rcmd remote-username User0
If the WMIC IP address translates to ap1.company.com, the .rhosts file for User0 on the RCP server 
should contain this line:
ap1.company.com ap1
For more information, refer to the documentation for your RCP server.