Cisco

Cisco Catalyst 3650 / 3850 Switch Password Recovery

Recover a lost enable password on Catalyst 3650 and 3850 switches over the console port using ROMMON and the startup-config bypass.

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

Catalyst 3650 and 3850 run IOS-XE. Password recovery uses ROMMON to bypass the saved startup configuration, then merges it back so no configuration is lost.

Prerequisites

Recovery Steps

  1. Connect the console, then power-cycle the switch.
  2. Hold the Mode button during power-up (or send Break) to reach the switch: prompt.
  3. Bypass the startup configuration:
    switch: SWITCH_IGNORE_STARTUP_CFG=1
    switch: boot flash:packages.conf
  4. After boot, merge the saved configuration back:
    Switch# copy startup-config running-config
  5. Set the new password:
    Switch(config)# enable secret <new-password>
  6. Re-enable normal startup behaviour, save and reload:
    Switch(config)# no system ignore startupconfig
    Switch# write memory
    Switch# reload

Note

On stack members, recover per-switch; the stack will re-form afterwards.