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Urgent: How to retrieve config without enable password

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blazeme

Technical User
Mar 7, 2005
1
ZA
I have a 2950 switch that I would like to replace with another 2950, the problem is that I only have the telnet & console passwords.

Is there any way to retrieve the config so that I can configure the other switch with the same config.
 
Not unless you perform password recovery that obviously involves rebooting the switch to rommon etc.

Andy
 
AS AB100 says you'll need to reboot the switch - go into Rommon mode - change the register setting to 0x2142 boot the switch up go into #mode as there are no cionfigs running then copy the startup conifg into the running config do a show run - depending on whether password encyrption has been set yo umay be able to find out the passwords for future ref.

Steve Lindley
CCNA
 
If you're running SNMP you can use a 3rd party application to download the config file and if it's just an enable password you can crack it. If it's the enable secret, then you'll have to use the password recovery procedure.

"I can picture a world without war. A world without hate. A world without fear. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
- Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts
 
Password recovery is probably your best option. The architecture of the 2950 is different than routers so the procedure is a bit different since there is no config-register or ROMMON.

Connect to the console port and power cycle the switch (pull the plug and plug it back in) while holding the "mode" button. Keep the mode button depressed until you either see the light on FA0/1 extinguish or you get a switch: prompt on the console. Type the commands load_helper and flash_init to initialize the switch. Then rename the flash:config.text file to flash:config.old. That is the configuration file you want to preserve. (ren flash:config.text flash:config.old)

reset the switch or power cycle again and it will boot into the configuration dialog. From there, you can get to privileged mode and copy the flash:config.old into running-configuration, reset all the passwords and then copy run start.

switch:load_helper
switch:flash_init
switch:ren flash:config.text config.old
switch:reset

-----output omitted-----

Switch>enable
Switch#config t
Switch(config)#copy flash:config.old run
Hostname(config)#enable secret mypassword
Hostname(config)#line con 0
Hostname(config-line)#password consolepassword
Hostname(config-line)#login
Hostname(config-line)#line vty 0 15
Hostname(config-line)#password telentpassword
Hostname(config-line)#login
Hostname(config-line)#end
Hostname#wr

HTH

 
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