NetScaler Password Recovery Procedure

Summary

This document describes how to perform a Password Recovery procedure for the NetScaler device running 6.0 and 6.1.

Procedure

Follow these steps to perform a Password Recovery procedure:

Note: Refer to the transcript in the More Information section for a complete listing of commands and output.

1. Attach a console cable to the NetScaler Serial Console (9600 baud, 8 bits, 1 stop bit, No parity).
2. Boot the NetScaler system.
3. The following message is seen:

Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt
Booting [kernel] in 10 seconds
Press the SPACEBAR.
Note: If using the NetScaler 7000 press CTRL+C here.

4. Type boot –s.

This starts the kernel in single user mode.

5. You should see the message:

Enter full pathname of shell or RETURN for /bin/sh:
Press ENTER.
Note: The prompt now changes to \u@\h\$.

6. Check disk consistency by typing the following:

\u@\h\$ /sbin/fsck /dev/ad0s1a
Note: Be sure to include a space between /sbin/fsck and /dev/ad0s1a.

7. Type df to view mounted partitions, then enter the following command to mount the flash drive:

\u@\h\$ /sbin/mount /dev/ad0s1a /flash
Note: Be sure to include spaces between /sbin/mount, dev/ad0s1a, and /flash.
If this command fails, you can create the flash directory before issuing the mount by typing the following command:
\u@\h\$ mkdir /flash
Now retry the mount command. You can also type df again to view the mounted drives.

8. Type the following command:

\u@\h\$ cd /flash/nsconfig

9. Type the following commands to rewrite the ns.conf file and remove the set system command defaulting to the nsroot user:

\u@\h\$ grep –v “set system user nsroot” ns.conf > new.conf
Rename the old ns.conf:
\u@\h\$ mv ns.conf old.ns.conf

Rename the new.conf file to ns.conf:
\u@\h\$ mv new.conf ns.conf

10. Reboot the NetScaler device by typing the reboot command.
11. You can now log on using the following credentials:

User name: nsroot
Password: nsroot

12. Change the nsroot password once you have logged on by typing the following command:

> set system user nsroot

More Information

This is a transcript of the Password Recovery procedure.


Console: serial port
BIOS drive C: is disk0
BIOS drive D: is disk1
BIOS 637kB/1046500kB available memory

FreeBSD/i386 bootstrap loader, Revision 0.8
(murray@builder.FreeBSD.org, Tue Sep 18 10:05:43 PDT 2001)
Loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf
ns-6.1-86.1 text=0x4b6260 data=0x64908d0+0x5b50f4


Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.

Booting [kernel] in 2 seconds...

Type '?' for a list of commands, 'help' for more detailed help.
ok boot –s

Copyright (c) 1992-2003 The FreeBSD Project.
Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
FreeBSD 4.9-NETSCALER-6.1 #0: Tue Dec 6 00:52:06 PST 2005

build@amber.netscaler.com:/usr/obj/usr/home/build/rs_61/usr.src/sys/NETSCALER
Calibrating clock(s) ...



Mounting root from ufs:/dev/md0c
da0 at ahc0 bus 0 target 0 lun 0
da0: Fixed Direct Access SCSI-3 device
da0: Serial Number 3JA9380Z00007453SCPE
da0: 160.000MB/s transfers (80.000MHz, offset 63, 16bit), Tagged Queueing Enabled
da0: 35003MB (71687372 512 byte sectors: 255H 63S/T 4462C)
md0: invalid primary partition table: no magic
start_init: trying /sbin/init
Enter full pathname of shell or RETURN for /bin/sh:
\u@\h\$
\u@\h\$ /sbin/fsck /dev/ad0s1a
ad0s1: type 0xa5, start 32, end = 500735, size 500704 : OK
** /dev/ad0s1a
** Last Mounted on /flash
** Phase 1 - Check Blocks and Sizes
** Phase 2 - Check Pathnames
** Phase 3 - Check Connectivity
** Phase 4 - Check Reference Counts
** Phase 5 - Check Cyl groups
7594 files, 178477 used, 64114 free (7250 frags, 7108 blocks, 3.0% fragmentation)

***** FILE SYSTEM MARKED CLEAN *****
\u@\h\$ /sbin/mount /dev/ad0s1a /flash
ad0s1: type 0xa5, start 32, end = 500735, size 500704 : OK
\u@\h\$ cd /flash/nsconfig
\u@\h\$ df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/md0c 100750 86088 12648 87% /
/dev/ad0s1a 242591 178477 44707 80% /flash
\u@\h\$ grep -v "set system user nsroot" ns.conf > new.conf
\u@\h\$ mv ns.conf old.ns.conf
\u@\h\$ mv new.conf ns.conf
\u@\h\$ reboot
Waiting (max 60 seconds) for system process `vnlru' to stop...stopped
Waiting (max 60 seconds) for system process `bufdaemon' to stop...stopped
Waiting (max 60 seconds) for system process `syncer' to stop...stopped

syncing disks...
done
Uptime: 17m53s
Rebooting...


Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.

Booting [kernel] in 2 seconds...
Booting [kernel] in 1 second...
Booting [kernel]...



Feb 28 20:15:40 12.178.35.81 02/28/2006:20:15:35 GMT ns : EVENT STATECHANGE : Device "self node 12.178.35.81" - State UP

nssyslog nsvpnlog daemon

nsconmsg:Netscaler Syslog Daemon Starting....

nsconmsg:Netscaler Syslog Daemon Starting....

Displaying accesslogs information
Performance Data Record Version 2.0
Started
Feb 28 20:15:52 ns netscaler: self node 12.178.35.81: UP

login: nsroot
Password:
Last login: Tue Feb 28 13:33:47 from 195.153.38.125
Done