Appendix; Catalyst 2960 Switch Bootloader Commands - Cisco Catalyst 2960 Command Reference Manual

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A P P E N D I X

Catalyst 2960 Switch Bootloader Commands

This appendix describes the bootloader commands on the Catalyst 2960 switch.
During normal bootloader operation, you are not presented with the bootloader command-line prompt.
You gain access to the bootloader command line if the switch is set to manually boot up, if an error
occurs during power-on self test (POST) DRAM testing, or if an error occurs while loading the operating
system (a corrupted Cisco IOS image). You can also access the bootloader if you have lost or forgotten
the switch password.
The default switch configuration allows an end user with physical access to the switch to recover from
Note
a lost password by interrupting the bootup process while the switch is powering up and then entering a
new password. The password recovery disable feature allows the system administrator to protect access
to the switch password by disabling part of this functionality and allowing the user to interrupt the
bootup process only by agreeing to set the system back to the default configuration. With password
recovery disabled, the user can still interrupt the bootup process and change the password, but the
configuration file (config.text) and the VLAN database file (vlan.dat) are deleted. For more information,
see the software configuration guide for this release.
You can access the bootloader through a switch console connection at 9600 bps.
Unplug the switch power cord, and press the switch Mode button while reconnecting the power cord.
You can release the Mode button a second or two after the LED above port 1X goes off. You should
then see the bootloader prompt.The bootloader performs low-level CPU initialization, performs
Switch:
POST, and loads a default operating system image into memory.
Catalyst 2960 Switch Command Reference
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