MSA 2050 password recovery for firmware VL100?

[PDP-Fan]

Hello

The password recovery procedure on a MSA2050 is simple like username: restoredefaults and password: serialnumber.

However, this seems not to work on a very early VL100P001 firmware. How does it work here??

I have such an MSA2050 controller and it has an unknown password. To upgrade the firmware I need to enter the credentials. I'm locked out now...

[support_s]

System recommended content:

1. HPE MSA 2050 User Guide

2. HPE MSA Firmware Release Notes for MSA 1050 (VE270P005) and MSA 2050/2052 (VL270P005)

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Thank you for being a HPE valuable community member.

[JonPaul]

@PDP-Fan 
Have you attempted all the default users for that firmware version?
WebUI and CLI:  manage / !manage
Monitor User:  monitor / !monitor   (Maybe a look at the current users might jog some memory)
Or via FTP:   ftp / !ftp

[PDP-Fan]

Yes I tried all the usual passwords. But we solved the problem by installing the controller into an MSA system with a known password. So the controller took the password from the other controller.

However I would still like to know how a password reset works with this very old firmware VL100P001.

And please don’t tell me about firmware updates… that also only works with a password.

[JonPaul]

@PDP-Fan 
The details are described in this thread
https://community.hpe.com/t5/MSA-Storage/FORGOT-PASSWORD-FOR-HPE-MSA-2050/td-p/7058562#.YpEBPKjMKUk

The biggest point is that you need physical access to the system and connect through the USB serial.  Also note what is considered the Serial Number, if it doesn't start with "00C0FF..." then you are not getting the correct serial number.
The process you used of moving one controller to another MSA system is similar to replacing the controllers.  Two cautions about swapping controllers:
1. Partner Firmware Update will likely try to kick in and you need to make sure the firmware is not being re-written when you pull the controllers out

2. The disk-groups could go into a quarantined state as unwritten CACHE information could be left in controllers. (cache data is copied when 2 controllers become partnered)

You might want to check for 'unwriteable cache' in both your MSA systems.  CLI> show unwriteable-cache
unwriteable cache could be your data or the system metadata,  if any storage component is not currently online the data in cache could be important.  If all storage is online and all your data is accessible then you can clear the unwriteable cache.  Clearing cache is deleting data, it just may not be current or important data, and could be catastrophic in Virtualized storage,  it is strongly recommended to consult HPE support before clearing cache.

[PDP-Fan]

@JonPaul 

Hello JonPaul

I assume that the connection via the serial CLI port, instead of the USB works as well....

I'm very familiar with the procedures of password resetting on all generations of MSA. Since generation G3 it is "restoredefaults" or "restorepassword" and the serial number as password (00C0FF...) which is also the MAC address.

For G3 and G4 there is a difference between old and new firmware... on old firmware you use lowercase letters (00c0ff...) and with newer firmware you use upercase (00C0FF...). I just don't know at which version it changes.... but that's not the question.

On the G5 (MAS2050) with stone old firmware VL100P001, it seems that "restoredefaults" is not working. In the thread from your suggested link, it is clearly stated: "Password recovery would probabvly not work if the MSA firmware version is VL100 version. "

So let's assume that I got an MSA2050 controller with VL100 firmware and an unknown password. Let's also assume that I have no second controller to add . -> What is the procedure in that case?

PS: Option "Open a call at HPE" does not count...

[JonPaul]

@PDP-Fan 

There are a few times during the different families of the MSA where the password recovery process has been broken.  A controller swap/replacement is the only option in that case.
HPE has never supplied any cables other than the USB cable for serial connection.  The chance of connecting to diagnostic interfaces with the wrong cable is too great.  Diagnostic commands and interfaces are not documented or guaranteed to function as expected and would be a way to quickly and permanently lose all data on an MSA.

[EnginD]

Dear all,

We have an MSA 2050 with 2 controllers. We do not remember the administrator password. Since the version is VL100 the "restoreusers" code I run via CLI does not work. What should I do? We kindly ask for your support

[PDP-Fan]

( I assume you don't have a HPE service contract... )
The only option, besides of buying a new controller is this:

- Borrow an identical controller with a known password.
- Put that known single controller in your system and start it up
- Insert your unknown controller and it will take the known password
- Update the firmware of your controller immediately.
- Repeat the procedure with your second controller.

IMPORTANT: Do not add the known controller to your running system or it will take the unknown password and you are f****d 

I'm sorry not to have a better solution but at least that worked for me. Although it took a while to find a suitable controller...

[EnginD]

First of all, thank you very much for your feedback.

Unfortunately it is very difficult to find another controller. MSA 2050 has 2 controllers, A and B.

A works in active mode and B works in passive mode. What kind of problem will I have if I remove the B controller, hard reset and put it back?