CSS 11501 - How do I blow away the config and start over?

Use the "erase config" command.

Robert

More info at:

I somehow absorbed that it was good practice to leave the startup-config intact and only mess with the running-config, so you could power cycle and get back to a known good config if you messed up. Once the running-config was tested, you could "copy run start".

The erase command only working on the startup-config makes it look like the designer of the system considered wiping out and directly replacing the startup-config to be normal procedure.

Do people really just tftp an untested config directly to startup-config?

Loren

Depends on what you mean by "untested." We often use the startup-config to stage configurations on equipment before we put it into production. The commands and technologies in the config, however, are always tested extensively in our lab. So the technology is tested, but the config really isn't. You always run the risk of "fat fingering" something and not noticing it until you can no longer reach the equipment over the network. That's where best practices come in (i.e. reverse telnet/termserver access, human being on site, etc.). The erase config command itself may be normal procedure, depending on what you are doing. We use it when we take a device out of service, especially if it will be used elsewhere, to prevent conflicting configurations (i.e. routing setup) from popping up in our network.

HTH

Robert