Password Recovery Procedure for a pair of MDS 9000 Switches

[David Chancusi]

Hello.

I have two Cisco Multilayer Fabric Switches (MDS) that are currently on production. They are DS-C9124-K9 switches, as shown in Figure 1. I don't have info about their NX-OS software versions or their current memory contents.

Figure 1: Network Diagram

Those Switches do not have configured neither Telnet nor SSH remote access (actually I don't even know their management IP addresses). But I have physical access to those switches and their Console Ports.

The console access to the switches are protected by username and password, but nobody knows them.

I need to regain access to those Switches, so I have checked some documentation regarding the Password Recovery procedure for it.

I have found is this document: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/ps4159/ps4358/products_password_recovery09186a00801258c3.shtml . It seems to be a well detailed document that lists the steps to do a Recovery Procedure.

Despite of it, I have several questions regarding this procedure:

- The document above is designed for a Modular Switch (that has Supervisor modules and linecards) as shown in Figure 2, but the switches in my case are Fixed ones (1 rack unit). Just as a confirmation: The document above also applies to this case, right?

Figure 2: Technical documentation found

- The MDS Switches are interconnected between them. I do not know the specifics about that interconnection, so I don't know if they are bundled together in a logical way (like if they had configured protocols like VSS, VSL, HSRP or those that apply) (also I don't have any experience with those kinds of switches and NX-OS software). So, my main concern is: Does the Password Recovery procedure change in case they are somehow bundled together as a single logical entity? How can I sort out if that is the case, previous to the recovery procedures? In what order should I perform the Password Recovery procedures in that case?

- What other advice / requirements can you suggest to me when doing these procedures?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide to me. If you want more info about this, or have any questions, just let me know.

[Francesco Molino · Accepted solution]

Hi

Yes the password recovery process is the same as shown in the documentation shared.

I believe this is 1 fabric so there is a port channel between them and your storage/servers are dual attached. To avoid any issues, i will disconnect the 1st switch from the second one and also disconnect all hosts. Then proceed with password recovery.

Once this is done, reconnect it to the other switch, reconnect hosts and do the same for the second member of the fabric. 

[David Chancusi]

Thanks a lot for your answer.

I will take those things into consideration, and I will do the Password Recovery procedure in the next few days.