Install CallManager Express on a Router with limited Flash

The flash size on my old 2600MX is too small to install CME 4.3, even the basic version. BTW, the full version of CME contains additional files and folders for Auto Attendant & Auto Call Distribution, display images for phone's LCD screen, ringtones, and firmwares for additional phone models. The firmware files are large compare to the rest of the files. Because I only have one model of Cisco IP phones in my lab, I removed most of the firmwares before I load the CME to the router. Here are the steps:

1. Extract the cme-full-4.3.0.0.tar file to the tftp root folder as "cme"
2. Delete some of the firmware folders in "cmd\phone" folder.
3. Delete some of the png files from "cme\Desktops\320x212x12". You might need to edit the List.xml accordingly.
4. Delete CME43-full-readme-v.2.0.txt from "cme" folder. Now the CME size reduced to ~9 MB.
5. From the "cme" folder, select all the files and compress them to tar format. You will need 7zip for this and it can be downloaded from http://www.7-zip.org/


The "CME43-full-readme-v.2.0.txt" contains detailed installation and basic configuration procedure to load CME onto a router and I won't repeat it here. There are many tutorials cover the same topic and some post configuration. Here is a good one: http://www.brainbump.net/tutorials/voice/CMEusingGNS3.htm

You can manage CME using CLI or GUI. For GUI, you can use either IE or Cisco Configuration Assistant.
Here is a good book to learn CME: "IP Telephony Using CallManager Lab Portfolio".