Catalyst 2900-XL and 3500-XL Password Recovery Procedure

Description

This document describes the password recovery procedure for the Cisco Catalyst 2900-XL and the Cisco Catalyst 3500-XL.

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. Attach a terminal or PC with terminal emulation to the console port of the switch. Use the following terminal settings:

   9600 baud rate
   No parity
   8 data bits
   No stop bit

2. Unplug the power cable.

3. Hold down the mode button while reconnecting the power cord to the switch. You can release the mode button a second or two after the LED above port 1x is no longer illuminated.

   The following instructions appear:

   The system has been interrupted prior to initializing the flash file system.
   The following commands will initialize the flash file system, and finish loading
   the operating system software:
      
   flash_init
   load_helper
   boot
   

4. Type flash_init.

5. Type load_helper.

6. Type dir flash:.

   The switch file system is displayed:

   Directory of flash:
   2 -rwx 843947 Mar 01 1993 00:02:18 C2900XL-h-mz-112.8-SA
   4 drwx   3776 Mar 01 1993 01:23:24 html
   66 -rwx    130 Jan 01 1970 00:01:19 env_vars
   68 -rwx 1296   Mar 01 1993 06:55:51 config.text
   1728000 bytes total (456704 bytes free)
   

7. Type rename flash:config.text flash:config.old to rename the configuration file.

   This file contains the password definition.

8. Type boot to boot the system.

9. Enter N at the prompt to start the Setup program, Continue with the configuration dialog? [yes/no] : N

10. At the switch prompt type en to turn on enable mode.

11. Type rename flash:config.old flash:config.text to rename the configuration file with its original name.
12. Copy the configuration file into memory:

    Switch# copy flash:config.text system:running-config
    Source filename [config.text]? (press Return)
    Destination filename [running-config]? (press Return)    
    

    The configuration file is now reloaded.

13. Change the password:

    switch#configure terminal
    switch(config)#enable password Cisco
    switch#control/Z
    

14. Write the running configuration to the configuration file:

    switch(config)#write memory