Brocade

Brocade Switch Password Recovery

Recover a lost enable password on Brocade and Foundry switches using the boot monitor and password-recovery option.

Overview

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for resetting lost or forgotten administrative passwords on enterprise networking hardware. Follow the procedure below carefully to regain access while preserving your device configuration.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with password recovery, ensure you have a console cable, terminal emulation software configured to 9600 baud, and physical access to the device.

Step 1: Establish Console Connection

Connect your terminal cable to the console port of the device and open your serial terminal session.

Step 2: Interrupt the Boot Sequence

Power cycle the hardware and issue a Break key sequence during initial system startup to enter ROMMON mode.

Step 3: Reset Password & Configuration

Bypass startup configuration loading, boot into system software, set your new credentials, and save changes back to non-volatile memory.

Overview

Brocade and Foundry switches provide a boot monitor that can clear the privileged password without erasing the configuration.

Prerequisites

Recovery Steps

  1. Connect the console and reboot the switch.
  2. Press a key at the boot prompt to enter the boot monitor rather than loading the image.
  3. Use the password-recovery option — on FastIron/ICX this is no password at the boot monitor, or the equivalent menu item.
  4. Boot the image. The enable password is cleared, the configuration is retained.
  5. Set a new password:
    switch(config)# enable super-user-password <new-password>
  6. Save: write memory.

On NetIron MLX/XMR chassis, recover on the management module (or the active one on dual-MM systems).