NOTE: This product is no longer being sold.
You can View the End-of-Life Notice with Cisco 3560 switch or Information about Cisco 3560 product support.
Do you want to upgrade Cisco 3560 switch IOS? It is very easy, you only need to do these 4 steps. Below are the details about how to do it.
You may need: Cisco Catalyst 3560 Series Switches Data Sheet

Step 1: Tools Needed
Before upgrading, you need to prepare:
- Cisco 3560 switch
- PC with Super Terminal installed
- TFTP or FTP server
- c3560-advipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE2.bin
You may need: Other Cisco catalysts 3560 series switches IOS
Step 2: Backup switch IOS
Use the dir, cd, PWD, and other commands to see the directory structure in the flash before performing the backup. The bin file and Html folder of this switch IOS are in the c3560-ipbase-mz.122-25.SEB4 directory in the flash.
Back up the original IOS as a tar file to the TFTP server with IP address 192.168.1.100.
switch#copy flash:/c3560-ipbase-mz.122-25.SEB4/c3560-ipbase-mz.122-25.SEB4.bin tftp://192.168.1.100/c3560-ipbase-mz.122-25.SEB4.bin
Back up the original IOS as a tar file to the TFTP server with IP address 192.168.1.100.
switch#archive tar /create tftp://192.168.1.100/c3560-ipbase-mz.122-25.SEB4.tar flash:/c3560-ipbase-mz.122-25.SEB4
Step 3: Upload new IOS
Copy the new IOS to the root directory of the flash
switch#copy tftp://192.168.1.100/c3560-advipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE2.bin flash:/c3560-advipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE2.bin
(Note: If you are using CISCO-specific TFTP software, the TFTP software will be shut down immediately after running this command. In this case, you need to manually start the TFTP software again.)
Step 4: Change the startup settings
Let the switch start with the new IOS
Switch(config)#boot system flash:/c3560-advipservicesk9-mz.122-25.SEE2.bin
Set up an alternate IOS boot
switch(config)#boot boothlpr flash:/c3560-ipbase-mz.122-25.SEB4/c3560-ipbase-mz.122-25.SEB4.bin switch#write switch#reload
After rebooting, the switch will use the new IOS.
Common questions: Switch IOS loading order issues.
Switch IOS boot sequence:
- start help ios (boot helper)
- help ios (boot helper)
- system ios (boot system)
TIP: Always backup your current IOS. Using the copy command, copy it from the flash to your TFTP in case you need to rollback. In addition, once the system has started, you are able to delete the .bin file from the flash without problems. This is useful when you have an existing image that is taking up most of the room on your flash and you are copying a new one that requires more space than you have available.
How To Upgrade IOS on a Cisco 3560 Switch Using a tar File Video
Video From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utSbMinOID4
References
- How To Upgrade IOS On Cisco 3560 Switches?
- IOS Upgrade on a Cisco 3560
- Solved: Cisco 3560 IOS Upgrade – Cisco Community
- Solved: 3560 IOS upgrade question – Cisco Community
- How To Upgrade IOS on a Cisco 3560 Switch Using a tar File