Cisco NX-OS Factory Reset

Question

An easy question actually. How do I do a Factory Reset on NX-OS? That means, how do I completely and permanently wipe all the configuration I've made without deleting the operating system image? There is some documentation on how to do it in Legacy IOS, but nothing really on NX-OS.

I'm running NX-OS 7.3(2)N1(1) on a N5K-C5596UP.

This doesn't work, there is no factory-reset command on my switch. The config-register way doesn't work either, there is no config-register command on my switch.

Can someone please help me with this?

Answer 1

NX-OS is not an alien language. It's only slightly different than legacy IOS.

That in mind, how to "factory" a device depends on the level to which you want it sanitized. The simplest process is the same on everything... write erase or some variant to remove the startup-config. (Note: legacy IOS keeps a lot of stuff in NVRAM, so erase nvram: might be more effective.) Depending on how the device has been used, there may be other things to remove. (certificates, webvpn content, scripts, backups, etc.)

Erasing (formatting) flash might seem like the path to take, but there could be issues getting the OS back on it. I've seen too many people do that on modern IOS(XE/XR) hardware, and it ends up RMA'd to get it fixed. The days of a simple ROMMON tftpdnld are long gone.