Enterasys Securestack C3

One of the Force10_S50s failed (flapping all its links uncontrollably), so an Enterasys Securestack C3G124-48P has been acquired from eBay.

Quick specs:

• 48 1000baseT ports
• 4 SFP ports that can assume the roles of 1000baseT ports 45-48
• 2 proprietary stacking ports in the back
• DB-9 (DE-9, actually) serial console port on the front wired as DTE. Use a standard null modem cable to talk to this.

This switch is Broadcom based.

Wiping the existing config

Attach a console cable, run terminal program, set port to 9600-8n1, no carrier detect, no flow control. Power on the switch and let it boot completely. Follow this process as documented at

As https://community.extremenetworks.com/extreme/topics/password_recovery_for_the_securestack_series-1jwf24 explains,

While the switch is operational, press and hold the Reset button for five seconds, then release.

A "Password Reset button has been pressed" message will display on the cli console and in the current.log (5487).

The admin, rw, and ro login passwords will be reset to <enter>; and with C2 f/w 3.01.45 and higher, the boot menu password will be reset to the default value of "administrator" (5551).

From here, log in to the console as the rw user. Its password is now blank. Issuing the clear config command will do the expected (wipe the saved configuration) and reboot the switch.

Basic setup

Configuration of these switches is somewhat different than the Cisco IOS influenced setup of most other managed switches on the market. Changes are made through a series of set commands. Look for a manual called the "SecureStack C3 Stackable Switches Configuration Guide" with Google for information. We'll highlight changes made in this wiki page. Command line tab completion and "?" inline help work as in most other switches.