Lessons · Network switches · wiping the one that is leaving
Two files, in two places
`erase startup-config` clears NVRAM. The VLAN database is not in NVRAM -- it is a file on flash -- so it survives an erase and leaves with the box.
Hone is a place to practise programming. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
What is on a retired switch is a map of your network with the password hashes attached, and it is about to be in a courier's van.
How to think about it
Erase the startup config, delete the VLAN database, then reload so both take effect. And do it a week later, not on the night: until the new one has proved itself, the old one is your rollback.
Worked example
enableIn.
show flash:Three files. The image, the config, and vlan.dat.
erase startup-configNVRAM cleared. Notice what this did not touch.
show flash:vlan.dat is still there, with your VLAN numbering in it.
delete flash:vlan.datThe second file, in the second place.
show flash:Now it is gone.
reloadAnd a restart, which is what makes both of them true.
Your turn
Clear the saved configuration out of NVRAM.
startup-config
Console into a switch
The trap
Erasing the startup config and calling the box clean. Your VLAN numbering is still on the flash, and so is everything it tells a stranger.