There’s number of ways to copy files to Cisco ASA firewall. Most common example is TFTP we all learned to use on CCNA course or reading articles on the Internet.
There’s are two issues to this method:

First problem is security as TFTP use clear text transmission is not preferred method from security standpoint .

Second and much more annoying (especially when try to fix some urgent issue) is speed of transmission. TFTP is extremely slow and copying ASA image file may take ages…

Good solution to this problem is to use SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) also called secure copy and here’s how to do it.


Enable SSH on ASA:

ssh <remote IP address> <network mask> outside

To use secure copy, then enter the following command:

 hostname# ssh scopy enable

Then from a Linux client enter the following command:

 scp -v -pw <password> <filename> <username>@<asa_address>

Note: The -v is for verbose, and if -pw is not specified you will be prompted for a password.

That’s it… simple right!

Follow me!