catalyst 3550 switch password recovery mechanism disabled ?

[chialun]

dear sir,

From the catalyst 3550 switch, Please advise how to recover forgotten password if password recovery mechanism disabled? I hope can keep the existing running configurations. It's a live working box.

Please advise. thank you very much.

[glen.grant]

this was addressed in your other post of the same question...

[chialun]

Hi glen,

Thank you very much for all the thoughts and helps. Now we know how's the password recovery mechanism works. However,right now is the catalyst 3550 switch already in password recovery disabled and we forgotten the password. We don't want to lost the existing running configurations.

any idea. Please advise.

thanks.

[smothuku]

Hi ,

Anybody can use the no service password-recovery command to disable some of the functionality of the password recovery

feature by allowing an end user to reset a password only by agreeing to return to the default configuration.

To use the password-recovery procedure, a user with physical access to the switch holds down the Mode button while the unit powers up and for a second or two after the LED above port 1X goes off. When the button is released,

the system continues with initialization. If the password-recovery mechanism is disabled, this message is displayed:

The password-recovery mechanism has been triggered, but is currently disabled.

Access to the boot loader prompt through the password-recovery mechanism is disallowed at this point. However, if you agree to let the system be reset back to the default system configuration, access to the boot loader prompt can still be allowed.

Would you like to reset the system back to the default configuration (y/n)?

If the user chooses not to reset the system back to the default configuration, the normal boot process continues, as if the Mode button had not been pressed. If you choose to reset the system back to the default configuration, the configuration file in flash memory is deleted

****Note :If you use the no service password-recovery command to control end user access to passwords, we recommend that you save a copy of the config file in a location away from the switch in case the end user uses the

password recovery procedure and sets the system back to defaults. Do not keep a backup copy of the config file on the switch.

In your case password recovery is disabled and you want to use password recovery procedure to change the password.If you try to do password recovery then you may lose config of the switch.

**** Any views or comments from netpro friends would be appreciated.

Thanks,

satish

[chialun]

Hi satish and all,

Thank you for good explainations, so we can say that if "no service password-recovery" is applied at "conf t" at the 1st place means the password recovery mechanism have been disabled. If we applied & forgotten the password for the switch 3550. There's no way to get the existing configurations back . It is because password recovery mechanism have been disabled and we can only reset it back to default configurations. There isn't any document that can tell us how to recover the password and keep the existing running configurations if the password recovery mechanism disabled . Please describe more further belows? Probably any misleading statement?

thank you very much.

As explaint in the documentation for 3550 belows:-

If the password-recovery mechanism is disabled, this message is displayed:

The password-recovery mechanism has been triggered, but is currently disabled.

Access to the boot loader prompt through the password-recovery mechanism is disallowed at this point. However, if you agree to let the system be reset back to the default system configuration, access to the boot loader prompt can still be allowed.

Would you like to reset the system back to the default configuration (y/n)?

If the user chooses not to reset the system back to the default configuration, the normal boot process continues, as if the Mode button had not been pressed. If you choose to reset the system back to the default configuration, the configuration file in flash memory is deleted

[smothuku]

Hi ,

Follow the below document step by step and change the pssword and get the config of switch as it is...

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps628/products_password_recovery09186a0080094184.shtml

All the best..

Thanks,

satish

[chialun]

hi all,

Based on my case , i am finding a way to crack the cisco ios system. please advise any idea.

thanks,.