How to recover Cisco Wireless LAN Controller 5508 Password?

Wireless LAN controllers are management devices in wireless networks. They provide a centralized point of management for features such as QoS (Quality of service), radio frequencies management, and mobility across enterprise networks. 

Using a Wireless LAN controller, a large number of access points can be managed centrally for medium to large enterprises. 

In the event you lose or forget the password of Cisco Wireless LAN controller 5508 it can be recovered using the ‘Restore password’ command. 

‘Restore-Password’ command is used to set a new user and password for the controller device. In case of running versions older to 5.1 factory reset would be required. 

In this article we will learn about recovering passwords on Cisco Wireless LAN controller 5508.

Password Recovery on Cisco Wireless LAN controller 5508

Cisco WLC is a software installed on an appliance or server to manage wireless access points and provide centralized management. 

If the controller password is lost or forgotten.  There is no password recovery option on Cisco Wireless LAN controller prior to version 5.1. The wireless LAN controller will be resetted to factory default settings and needs reconfiguration again.  

With 5.1 version and above we can use the command line interface (CLI) from the controller serial console to configure a new user id and password without resetting the controller to its factory defaults. 

Step 1

Boot the wireless LAN controller device and on user prompt CLI type ‘Restore-Password’ command 

Step 2

On controller CLI at user name prompt type ‘new user name’ 

Step 3

On controller CLI at password prompt type a ‘new password’ 

Step 4

At re-enter prompt type the ‘new password’ you typed in step 3 

The controller will validate the entry and stores it in a database

Step 5

When user prompt appears supply newly setup user name 

Step 6

When password prompt appears supply new password 

Note: The text entered for new user name and password on screen will not be displayed due to security reasons 

With the ‘Restore-password’ command the device configuration will be intact and you do not need to reset the device to factor default settings. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rashmi Bhardwaj

Founder of AAR TECHNOSOLUTIONS, Rashmi is an evangelist for IT and technology. With more than 12 years in the IT ecosystem, she has been supporting multi domain functions across IT & consultancy services, in addition to Technical content making.

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