Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "TFTP Client" One reboot later (she used the time to grab coffee), her laptop could now talk TFTP. Here’s where many fail. The Windows TFTP client can only download from or upload to a server. It cannot host files by itself.
She remembered: TFTP isn't fancy. No authentication, no directory listing. But it's lightweight and perfect for firmware pushes. Windows doesn’t enable TFTP by default, but it has a built-in client. She opened PowerShell as Administrator and ran: tftp on windows
Nina’s Windows laptop was her only tool. Here’s how she used TFTP to save the weekend. Nina first tried to copy the firmware ( cam_v2.1.bin ) using a USB stick. Walking to 15 stores wasn't feasible. She then tried setting up an FTP server on her laptop. The camera’s log read: Error: Protocol not supported. Expected TFTP port 69. It cannot host files by itself
copy tftp://192.168.10.100/cam_v2.1.bin flash:new_firmware.bin The camera’s request went out to UDP port 69 on her laptop. Her TFTP server saw the . Within 4 seconds, the transfer completed. The camera rebooted. Success. Step 5: The "Blocked by Firewall" Twist At Store #7, nothing worked. Her TFTP server showed zero logs. Windows Firewall was blocking UDP port 69 inbound. She quickly added a rule: But it's lightweight and perfect for firmware pushes
The problem? The cameras were on isolated management VLANs. They had no internet access, no HTTPS servers, and most didn’t even support SMB (Windows file sharing). They only spoke one language for bootstrapping: .
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "TFTP Client" It was disabled. She enabled it with: