Sun Infiniband 36 Gateway Switch

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syscomau

New Member
Sep 7, 2018
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Hey All,

We recently purchased a second hand Sun Datacentre Infiniband Gateway Switch from an old Sun Exascale 3X-2 system.
We are trying to reset the credentials on the switche as they weren't done before purchase. We have seen a few threads on the forums with people asking the same thing, however they don't have any solutions. Hoping someone here might be able to shed some light on how we can reset them.

There are no reset buttons, only a 10 pin header on the board, cmos battery (already tried that). The serial interface isn't providing us any output and we can connect to the ilom via web or ssh.

Alex
 

manubit

Member
Sep 14, 2017
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Have you tired the default password for ilom-admin (it is ilom-admin)? If it works, you can reset root password by connecting to USB serial port by configuring the terminal emulation software to use the following settings:
8N1: eight data bits, no parity, one stop bit
115200 baud
Disable software flow control (XON/XOFF)
Disable hardware control
Press the Return or Enter key on the serial device several times to synchronize the connection.
 

syscomau

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Sep 7, 2018
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thanks! We tried the default login for the ilom via the web and ssh and tried a few others like admin/admin etc. Is there a why to interface with the console via the 10 pin header that's inside the case?
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
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fohdeesha.com
thanks! We tried the default login for the ilom via the web and ssh and tried a few others like admin/admin etc. Is there a why to interface with the console via the 10 pin header that's inside the case?
the 10 pin header is most likely a JTAG interface for the CPLD (probably Altera MAX), which won't get you anywhere as CPLD's in these things usually just control the blinky lights on the front. Are their any other headers? Do you have a pic? do you know what management processor they use? (mips, arm, powerpc, etc)

a 10 pin JTAG header could possibly be ARM Cortex-M as well, but I don't think this switch is that new. most of the ARM's before that used the standard 20-pin
 

manubit

Member
Sep 14, 2017
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thanks! We tried the default login for the ilom via the web and ssh and tried a few others like admin/admin etc. Is there a why to interface with the console via the 10 pin header that's inside the case?
Well, Oracle says the next option is to get an Oracle engineer to reset the switch to factory defaults using instructions in Oracle Doc ID 1467182.1. That document is not public :(. Sorry, can't help more.
 

syscomau

New Member
Sep 7, 2018
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I've managed to get access to the serial output and can see a pre-boot environment prompt. I've tried the default passwords there. I'm thinking there might be a key combo or something like that to get a mode to reset the password. I did some more digging and found that a Oracle doc 1377922.1 has info regarding resetting the password via pre-boot. Downside is that it requires an account with Oracle to get access.

Sun Data center switch pre-boot environment.


(none) login: default
Password:
Login incorrect
(none) login: root
Password:
Login incorrect
(none) login: root
Password:
Login incorrect


Sun Data center switch pre-boot environment.


(none) login: root
Password:
Login incorrect
(none) login: ilom-admin
Password:
 

manubit

Member
Sep 14, 2017
56
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I did some more digging and found that a Oracle doc 1377922.1 has info regarding resetting the password via pre-boot.

Sun Data center switch pre-boot environment.


(none) login: root
Password:
Login incorrect
(none) login: ilom-admin
Password:
What was the result of last login attempt with username "ilom-admin"?

My instructions in the first reply were from the same Oracle document. If you happen to get in, the command to reset root password is -> set /SP/users/root password
 
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syscomau

New Member
Sep 7, 2018
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last attempt with "ilom-admin" was incorrect password. Ok, I wonder if there is another doc for recovering if the password is forgotten.

thanks for your help so far. Getting past the login is the hard part atm.

Do you know if there is a lockout for too many incorrect password attempts?
 

syscomau

New Member
Sep 7, 2018
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So I have finally got into the Switch. Below is a walk through for anyone who needs to know how I did it.

1) Build a RS 232 to USB null modem cable.

I used a USB to RS 232 cable, RS 232 F-F adapter, breadboard and part of a Cisco Serial cable to create the null modem cable

Follow the Loopback connections:
- RX from USB-RS232 connects to TX from Cisco Cable
- TX from USB-RS232 connects to RX from Cisco Cable
- DTR from USB-RS232 connects to DSR from Cisco Cable
- DSR from USB-RS232 connects to DTR from Cisco Cable

If this works, you should be able to connect two PC's together and send or receive char between them using Putty




Mine looked like this (See attached image)


2) Power cycle the Switch is quick succession several times till the Pre-Boot login appears
- If you power cycle it several times in quick succession, it will stop it from booting into Cent-OS. This isn't necessary, just made my troubleshooting easier as.

3) Connect up the USB end to the Switch and RS 232 to a port on your PC.

3) Login using root/welcome1

4) Change password for ilom-admin
- I used the Web interface to do this. I setup a Wireshark session and connected an Ethernet cable between the switch and PC and looked for ARP requests as mine was a static IP. If yours is sending DHCP requests, just plug it into your router and let it get an IP address.

Below are more passwords for the Sun System that could be useful

Database Server (Compute Nodes):
  • root/welcome1
  • oracle/welcome1
  • grid/welcome1
  • grub/sos1Exadata
Exadata Storage Servers(Cell Nodes):
  • root/welcome1
  • celladmin/welcome1
  • cellmonitor/welcome1
InfiniBand switches:
  • root/welcome1
  • nm2user/changeme
Ethernet switches:
  • admin/welcome1
Power distribution units (PDUs):
  • admin/welcome1
  • root/welcome1
Database server ILOMs:
  • root/welcome1
Exadata Storage Server ILOMs:
  • root/welcome1
InfiniBand ILOMs:
  • ilom-admin/ilom-admin
  • ilom-operator/ilom-operator
Keyboard, video, mouse (KVM):
  • admin/welcome1
 

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lambda

Member
Oct 27, 2018
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Thanks syscomau for posting such a well written detail instruction on how to make the cable and reset the password. According to the information given from Chinese blogger, there appear to be a way to boot the switch from an external USB drive and reset the root password if the root password has been changed from the default password. According to the article, one could also copy the image from an external USB drive to the internal flash. I think it should be possible to backup the image from the internal flash to an external USB drive as well. The posting is in Chinese so please use google translate for the following link:

EXADATA infiniband交换机口令找回 | Oracle一体机用户组
 
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robertw

New Member
Jan 11, 2021
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I recently got one on hand. All passwords have been changed. After some trial and error, I managed to reset the password. The Chinese website @lambda linked gave the great hint.

Opening up the switch, there is a Kontron nanoETXexpress-SP CoM with an Intel Atom Z processor (32 bit), which appears to be the management system. It turns out you can press F11 to boot from USB and do whatever you'd like. I'll illustrate my method to reset root password below.

Preparation:
  • 1x USB Hub that has at least 3 ports
  • 1x USB Keyboard
  • 1x USB flash drive with a Linux installation
  • Some means to communicate via USB serial
For the last item, I use a Raspberry Pi Zero W with a OTG cable (g_serial). It's also possible to use USB-to-serial-to-USB construct, pointed out by @syscomau above.

The flash drive has to be bootable on its own (install grub or some bootloader). The Linux installation must be 32 bit, as the CPU is. You also need to configure Linux to start console when you plug in USB serial (make sure it works by trying it out at other computer or VM).

Work flow:
  1. Make sure the switch is unplugged.
  2. Plug in USB hub to the switch, and rest of the things to the hub.
  3. Start serial console on another computer.
  4. Power on the switch, and immediately start hitting F11, for at least 30s.
  5. You should be at boot menu now. Press DOWN arrow key once, and hit ENTER once.
  6. Wait some time for your Linux to boot. (Make sure don't hit any keys, as it might interrupt grub, etc)
  7. On the other computer's console, hit ENTER, or other keys to activate the login prompt. Then login with your credential.
  8. Mount /dev/sda2. Look for the /conf/etc/shadow file. You can change the password to any hash you'd like.
  9. Umount the partition and reboot.
  10. Profit!
 
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mrkairo

New Member
Apr 24, 2019
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1
I recently got one on hand. All passwords have been changed. After some trial and error, I managed to reset the password. The Chinese website @lambda linked gave the great hint.

Opening up the switch, there is a Kontron nanoETXexpress-SP CoM with an Intel Atom Z processor (32 bit), which appears to be the management system. It turns out you can press F11 to boot from USB and do whatever you'd like. I'll illustrate my method to reset root password below.

Preparation:
  • 1x USB Hub that has at least 3 ports
  • 1x USB Keyboard
  • 1x USB flash drive with a Linux installation
  • Some means to communicate via USB serial
For the last item, I use a Raspberry Pi Zero W with a OTG cable (g_serial). It's also possible to use USB-to-serial-to-USB construct, pointed out by @syscomau above.

The flash drive has to be bootable on its own (install grub or some bootloader). The Linux installation must be 32 bit, as the CPU is. You also need to configure Linux to start console when you plug in USB serial (make sure it works by trying it out at other computer or VM).

Work flow:
  1. Make sure the switch is unplugged.
  2. Plug in USB hub to the switch, and rest of the things to the hub.
  3. Start serial console on another computer.
  4. Power on the switch, and immediately start hitting F11, for at least 30s.
  5. You should be at boot menu now. Press DOWN arrow key once, and hit ENTER once.
  6. Wait some time for your Linux to boot. (Make sure don't hit any keys, as it might interrupt grub, etc)
  7. On the other computer's console, hit ENTER, or other keys to activate the login prompt. Then login with your credential.
  8. Mount /dev/sda2. Look for the /conf/etc/shadow file. You can change the password to any hash you'd like.
  9. Umount the partition and reboot.
  10. Profit!
Dear Robertw, I have a Sun Datacenter Infiniband 36 switch (from Oracle) and I am trying to reset the root password according to your method.
Maybe I misunderstood your indications but I am a linux user with good experience and what I interpret is that you can use a Linux installation image (in this case Centos 7.9 i386) to make the switch boot from the pendrive with c7.9 and try to mount the SSD of the switch to access it and modify the /conf/etc/shadow.

I upload a photo so you can tell me if the deployment is fine, from Putty, as you can see in the photo, I can access the switch console correctly but... even though I turn on the switch (I start pressing F11 as you indicate) I can't get the switch hardware boot from the pendrive, the console when pressing F11 appears what is shown.

Do you have any correction for what I'm doing? I would greatly appreciate your experience in the case.

Best regards!
 

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