I needed to reset a password on an old CISCO Catalyst 2900XL, so here is the procedure as a reference:
The following should work at least on all older CISCO Catalyst series switches, in my case this is a very old 2900XL.
- Hook up a serial terminal
- Hold the MODE button pressed until the switch is booted.
Now something like this should come up:
C2900XL Boot Loader (C2900-HBOOT-M) Version 12.0(5.2)XU, MAINTENANCE INTERIM SOFTWARE
Compiled Mon 17-Jul-00 18:19 by ayounes
starting...
Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:04:c1:e0:52:80
Xmodem file system is available.
The system has been interrupted prior to initializing the
flash filesystem. The following commands will initialize
the flash filesystem, and finish loading the operating
system software:
flash_init
load_helper
boot
switch:
Type the flash_init command:
switch: flash_init
Initializing Flash...
flashfs[0]: 109 files, 3 directories
flashfs[0]: 0 orphaned files, 0 orphaned directories
flashfs[0]: Total bytes: 3612672
flashfs[0]: Bytes used: 2778624
flashfs[0]: Bytes available: 834048
flashfs[0]: flashfs fsck took 6 seconds.
...done Initializing Flash.
Boot Sector Filesystem (bs:) installed, fsid: 3
Parameter Block Filesystem (pb:) installed, fsid: 4
Now issue the load_helper command:
switch: load_helper
Now copy the startup configuration file out using rename flash:config.text flash:config.old or similar.
switch: rename flash:config.text flash:config.old
If the filename is unknown or there are multiple relevant configuration files, use the dir flash: command to see whats there.
Finally issue the boot command to load IOS:
switch: boot
Loading "flash:c2900XL-c3h2s-mz-120.5.2-XU.bin"...###########################################################################################################################################################
File "flash:c2900XL-c3h2s-mz-120.5.2-XU.bin" uncompressed and installed, entry point: 0x3000
executing...
Restricted Rights Legend
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
(c) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted
Rights clause at FAR sec. 52.227-19 and subparagraph
(c) (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer
Software clause at DFARS sec. 252.227-7013.
cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, California 95134-1706
Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS (tm) C2900XL Software (C2900XL-C3H2S-M), Version 12.0(5.2)XU, MAINTENANCE INTERIM SOFTWARE
Copyright (c) 1986-2000 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Mon 17-Jul-00 17:35 by ayounes
Image text-base: 0x00003000, data-base: 0x00301F3C
Initializing C2900XL flash...
flashfs[1]: 109 files, 3 directories
flashfs[1]: 0 orphaned files, 0 orphaned directories
flashfs[1]: Total bytes: 3612672
flashfs[1]: Bytes used: 2778624
flashfs[1]: Bytes available: 834048
flashfs[1]: flashfs fsck took 7 seconds.
flashfs[1]: Initialization complete.
...done Initializing C2900XL flash.
C2900XL POST: System Board Test: Passed
C2900XL POST: Daughter Card Test: Passed
C2900XL POST: CPU Buffer Test: Passed
C2900XL POST: CPU Notify RAM Test: Passed
C2900XL POST: CPU Interface Test: Passed
C2900XL POST: Testing Switch Core: Passed
C2900XL POST: Testing Buffer Table: Passed
C2900XL POST: Data Buffer Test: Passed
C2900XL POST: Configuring Switch Parameters: Passed
C2900XL POST: Ethernet Controller Test: Passed
C2900XL POST: MII Test: Passed
cisco WS-C2924C-XL (PowerPC403GA) processor (revision 0x11) with 8192K/1024K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID FAB0502V2ET, with hardware revision 0x01
Last reset from power-on
Processor is running Enterprise Edition Software
Cluster command switch capable
Cluster member switch capable
24 FastEthernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s)
32K bytes of flash-simulated non-volatile configuration memory.
Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:04:C1:E0:52:80
Motherboard assembly number: 73-3381-08
Power supply part number: 34-0834-01
Motherboard serial number: FAB0502508Z
Power supply serial number: PHI043503FK
Model revision number: A0
Motherboard revision number: C0
Model number: WS-C2924C-XL-EN
System serial number: FAB0502V2ET
C2900XL INIT: Complete
00:00:28: %SYS-5-RESTART: System restarted --
Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS (tm) C2900XL Software (C2900XL-C3H2S-M), Version 12.0(5.2)XU, MAINTENANCE INTERIM SOFTWARE
Copyright (c) 1986-2000 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Mon 17-Jul-00 17:35 by ayounes
--- System Configuration Dialog ---
At any point you may enter a question mark '?' for help.
Use ctrl-c to abort configuration dialog at any prompt.
Default settings are in square brackets '[]'.
Continue with configuration dialog? [yes/no]:
And that’s it, clear config and no password set.