did I brick my SF300-08?

[ksandbergfl]

I got assigned to manage a rack that includes a Cisco SF300-08.   It was working fine.

I needed to login to it, but the previous admin did not leave the user/pass for the switch.   The defaults of "cisco/cisco" didn't work.

So I looked up how to do a factory reset.  I got a paper clip, help down the button for 30 seconds, and now my switch doesn't appear to reboot.   the green "System" light just blinks.  And when I plug a network cable into the ports, nothing happens, no lights come on or anything.   I've been waiting an hour, the switch hasn't come back up yet.

I also found an old null modem cable and tried using Putty to connect to the serial console port, but I am getting no response from the switch.

Is the switch bricked?   Is there anything else I can do to restore it to factory settings?

UPDATE:   after about 90 minutes, the switch started responding again.  I can get to the Cisco web GUI to configure it, but the default "cisco/cisco" do not work!?!?     I have network access again, but cannot login to the switch

[Sujoy Paria · Accepted solution]

Hi,

There is a way to bypass the password and access the Switch via the console cable provided along with the mentioned SF300 Switch.  To use the console cable please follow the below mentioned steps…

STEP 1: Connect a computer to the switch console port using the provided serial cable.

STEP 2: Start a terminal application such as HyperTerminal / Putty on the computer.

STEP 3: Configure the utility with the following parameters:

• 115200 bits per second (with release 1.2.5 of the firmware, autobaud detection is enabled by default, so the switch should detect the speed after you press Enter).
• 8 data bits
• no parity
• 1 stop bit
• no flow control

STEP 4: Now reboot the Switch and press the ‘Esc’ button only once on the keyboard once you will see the ‘CISCO’ logo on the HyperTerminal / Putty screen.

STEP 5: Now select the option 3 to bypass the password and confirm the selection. The press ‘Enter’ button on the keyboard to proceed.

STEP 6: Once you enter the # prompt on that Switch after that you can create a new user name and password on that Switch on the ‘Configuration’ mode (please use ‘conf t’ command to go to that mode. You may use the command ‘username <input the user name> password <input the password>’

STEP 7: Please save the Switch configuration by typing ‘copy running-config’ ‘statrt-up config’’

STEP 8: Please use the command ‘Show IP Interface’ to see the IP address assigned on that Switch and accordingly connect a PC directly on the respective Switch port belongs to that VLAN. Assign a static IP on the PC LAN from the same IP pool (in case DHCP not configured) to access the Switch using the above mentioned username & password you have recently created.

In case you are not able to perform the above mentioned steps then you need to hard reset the Switch to factory default settings (all the existing Switch on the Switch will be erased). To steps to perform that are as follows…

To restore the managed switch configuration to the factory default settings:

1. Disconnect the managed switch from the network or disable all DHCP servers on your network.
2. With the power on, press-and-hold the Reset button for more than 10 seconds.

 You may refer the below mentioned links…

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/csbms/sf30x_sg30x/quick_start/en/300SeriesQSG_EN.pdf

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/csbms/sf30x_sg30x/administration_guide/Cisco_300Sx_v1_4_AG.pdf

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/csbms/sf30x_sg30x/administration_guide/CLI_300.pdf

In case still you are facing trouble then you can contact our support centre based on your region. Contact numbers are available on the following link…

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/web/tsd-cisco-small-business-support-center-contacts.html

[ksandbergfl]

Thank you, I located the cable that came with the switch, and I am able to access the switch via the serial Console port.   The default account (cisco/cisco) still works.     I am able to configure the router now, via the CLI.  

However, I still cannot login to the router via the built-in web GUI.   The default account (cisco/cisco) does not work on the GUI.  I created a new user account and set it to Privilege level 15, but I can't login with that account either.

Is there some setting in configuration that is preventing logins from the web GUI?   I am scouring the manual, I haven't found the answer yet.   When I do a "show authentication methods", the line for "HTTP" reads "local", which tells me that the HTTP GUI *should* be authenticating with local accounts (like cisco/cisco), right? 

[Sujoy Paria]

Hi,

Yes, it should be accessible locally via GUI. You may check whether any management restriction is configured or not, or any ACL is blocking the access or not. You may try the command ‘show management access-list’ or ‘show management access-class’ command. You will get more details on the following link…

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/csbms/sf30x_sg30x/administration_guide/CLI_300.pdf

Also you can try the command ‘show access-lists’.

In case there is no access restriction configured and you are able to ping the Switch management IP then the Switch should be accessible with the new user account with privilege level 15.

Note: You can try multiple browser to access the GUI

[ksandbergfl]

I think you're on to something! 

"show management access-list" returns "console-only"

I am reading the manual, but there are no examples for how to create an access-list for HTTP management... can you help?

[ksandbergfl]

I started over from scratch -- did a factory reset, unplugged all the cables except the one to my laptop, plugged my laptop into port 1, used a static IP address of 192.168.1.2, pointed my web browser to IP 192.168.1.254...  (there's a line in the manual that reads "When the device is using the factory default IP address of 192.168.1.254, its power LED flashes continuously").

And it worked!   the default cisco/cisco account got me into the web browser GUI, and everything seems OK now.

Thanks for your help

[Sujoy Paria]

Great ! Fantastic

Thank you for your efforts.