Cisco Troubleshoot: Restore Switch to Factory Default

It is a bad day in paradise if you have to restore a switch to default. In an extreme emergency and you had to restore the switch to factory default, this is irecoverable and should be done in a test environment first to try it out; never live unless you are absolutely sure of the damage you might causem but actually it's not usually that bad. Well I'm only saying that because it took me four times before I decided to read the directions in the manual.

What is Normal Behaviour?
When a router first boots the following steps happen in sequence (almost the same thing for a switch).

• The bootstrap in ROM performs the POST (Power on Self Test)
• The Cisco IOS is loaded into memory (quiz: which type of memory?)
• The configuration file is loaded into memory from NVRAM

 

I guess you could do this if you could no longer recover the password and the default cisco cisco is no longer valid.  Requires physical access to the switch.

1. Reconfigure the console login password
2. Add Vlan 2
3. Enable Telnet

 

HOW TO Reset the switch to Brand New in Box Configuration.

1. Unplug everything from each port on the switch, power off or pull the plug
2. Power on the Switch
3. Allow POST (Power On Self Test) to complete. The System LED blinks green; RPS, Status, Duplex and Speed LED turn sold green). Wait till System LED remainds solid green and other lights go off (about 5 minutes)

 

Cisco Switch Express Startup Mode

1. Let the IP address of Laptop be assigned by DHCP. Connect laptop to any Ethernet port on the Switch.
2. Hold MODE button down for 3 to 7 seconds till the Status, Duplex, and Speed lights stay solid
3. In the web browser, enter default IP address 10.0.0.1 to load the Cisco SDM
4. Login with default username cisco password cisco. Note you will be required to change the default password.
5. Express Startup window, Basic Settings: enter Vlan 2, enter specific IP address of the switch, subnet mask, default gateway and password with confirmation.
6. Enter new hostname of the switch
7. Accept the Ethernet Management port IP address 10.0.1.3
8. Click Advanced Settings to enable Telnet. Set the Telnet password; against most security policies, you might as well use the local password so you won't forget it.
9. When you click Submit, the new IP address of the switch will be assigned and your laptop will be disconnected. Change the IP address of the laptop in the Network Settings in teh same subnet. Launch the Cisco SDM webpage again with the new IP address of the switch.

Example for adding additional VLAN, another topic:
int fa 0/15
switchport trunk allowed vlan 1-3, 1002-1005