Recover a lost password on UCS for 6400, 6500, 6600 and 9108 Fabric Interconnects

Introduction

This document describes a comprehensive guide on the procedure to recover a lost password on CIsco UCS Fabric Interconnect.

Prerequisites

Physical access to the Fabric Interconnect.

Components Used

• Fabric Interconnect 6454.
• RJ45 to DB9 Serial Cable.
• Laptop.

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, ensure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Recover the Admin Account Password

Procedure

1. Connect to the console port. Plug the RJ-45 end of the serial management cable into the console port on the fabric interconnect, and connect the DB-9 male end into the serial port on a laptop or other computer.

2. Power cycle the Fabric Interconnect:

1. Power off the Fabric Interconnect.
2. Power on the Fabric Interconnect.
   
   

3. Press the key combination in the console as it boots: Ctrl + C. 

Note: For UCS 9108 100G Fabric Interconnect, press the Ctrl + C and then Ctrl + L key combinations in the console during the boot process. You have a 10-second window to perform this action.

4. At the loader prompt, find the system image that is used to boot with command dir.

loader > dir                                                                   

bootflash::  

  lost+found
  ucs-manager-k9.4.2.3e.bin
  .rpmstore
  ucs_chassis_imgs
  installables
  ucs-6400-k9-system.9.3.5.I42.3d.bin   <----
  nuova-sim-mgmt-nsg.0.1.0.001.bin 

5. Run the command cmdline recoverymode=1 to enable recovery mode.

loader > cmdline recoverymode=1       

6. Boot the system image on the Fabric Interconnect.

loader > boot ucs-6400-k9-system.9.3.5.I42.3d.bin   ​

7. Then, enter to the config terminal mode.

switch(boot)# config terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
switch(boot)(config)# ​

8. Reset the admin password.

switch(boot)(config)# admin-password <your_password>​

Tip: Choose a strong password that includes at least one capital letter and one number. The password cannot be blank.

Caution: The new password is displayed in clear text mode.

9. Exit the config terminal mode.

10. Reload the Fabric Interconnect.

switch(boot)(config)# exit 
switch(boot)# reload
This command will reboot this supervisor module. (y/n) ? y

Verify

Establish a connection via SSH to the management IP of the Fabric Interconnect and Log In using the updated password.

login as: admin
Pre-authentication banner message from server:
| Cisco UCS 6500 Series Fabric Interconnect
End of banner message from server
admin@X.X.X.X's password: N3wp4ssw0rd
Cisco Nexus Operating System (NX-OS) Software
TAC support: http://www.cisco.com/tac
Copyright (c) 2009, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
The copyrights to certain works contained in this software are
owned by other third parties and used and distributed under
license. Certain components of this software are licensed under
the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.0 or the GNU
Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Version 2.1. A copy of each
such license is available at
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.php and
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.php

FI-6454-A#

Related Information

Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect Hardware Installation Guide - Connecting the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect [Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects] - Cisco

Cisco UCS 6500 Series Fabric Interconnect Hardware Installation Guide - Connecting the Fabric Interconnect [Cisco UCS 6500 Series Fabric Interconnects] - Cisco

Cisco UCS 6600 Series Fabric Interconnect Installation and Service Guide - Connecting the Fabric Interconnect [Cisco UCS 6600 Series Fabric Interconnects] - Cisco

Cisco UCS X-Series Direct Fabric Interconnect 9108 100G Installation and Service Guide - Connecting the Fabric Interconnect [Cisco UCS X-Series Direct] - Cisco

Revision History

Revision	Publish Date	Comments
3.0	11-Jun-2026	Update with new Fabric Interconnect generations
1.0	16-Feb-2024	Initial Release