Locked out of new network switches because the consultant left
When an external consultant configures network gear and leaves without handing over the login credentials, incoming administrators are completely locked out of the equipment. This prevents anyone from managing the infrastructure or performing basic upkeep until the original configurator returns.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1escalating the issue to management
- 2waiting for the manager or absent consultant to respond
- 3performing endpoint troubleshooting without network access
- 4Driving in late at night to plug a physical crash cart directly into the host
- 5Moving credentials to a self-hosted password manager with offline caching enabled
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“he has the login info for the switch that hasn't been shared with me yet.”source ↗
“Getting to the boxes was my problem, no RDP means iLO, and I know where iLO lives and I know the credentials exist. They were in a runbook page on the internal wiki. Which is hosted on a VM. On a host I was trying to reach. I was a dog chasing its own tail for a good week.”source ↗
“Ultimately, if nobody has creds, and your guy is going to be away for an unknown time without a backup, it's not on you.”source ↗
“If you're unable to address it because you can't even log in to the new kit, then there's not much else you can do”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6Sync agent stops with Error 5 Access Denied after internet outage
- 7Why am I getting locked out of my account when using the correct password?
- 3Why do former employees still have active logins?
- 2How to open old Microsoft Publisher .pub files
- 2Why is rushed custom software so insecure?
- 53HubSpot is down and timing out right now