Password recovery procedure not working on Nexus 3048

[john.blackmon]

I have followed the password recovery procedure documented here:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/password_recovery/b_nx_os_pwr/nx_os_pw.html

The process appears to succeed (I even used a password direct from the document)...

switch(boot)# config terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
switch(boot)(config)# admin-password 2009AsdfLkj30
WARNING! Enabling local authentication for login through console due to password recovery
switch(boot)(config)# exit
switch(boot)# reload
This command will reboot this supervisor module. (y/n) ? y
[ 80.251557] Restarting system.

. . . OUTPUT OMITTED . . .

But then I'm not able to log in with that password:

Nexus 3000 Switch
login: admin
Password:
Login incorrect

Am I doing something wrong? This is a known-good switch. I just haven't logged into it since March and forgot what password I used (it's a home lab device). At this point I would be happy to reset the switch to factory defaults. I tried to erase nvram but that doesn't appear to have done anything at all. 

Thanks.

[Peter Paluch]

Hi John,

After you change the admin password using the admin-password command and exit from the configuration mode, do not reload the switch. Instead, please enter the load bootflash:system-image-name.bin command to load the system image, and after it loads, log in using the "admin" username and the newly configured password.

Please give this a try and let us know. Thank you!

Best regards,
Peter

[hwoolford]

Peter,

 ...after following your instructions and still having the same issue. I give admin for username and new password, but still no access.

[Dawei]

If your switch has AAA configurations, it will not work. You have to delete the "startup-config" in boot mode:

switch(boot)# write earse