Console settings / Cisco
Cisco console settings: baud rate, cable and what goes wrong
Every Cisco console port — Catalyst switches, ISR and ASR routers, Nexus in NX-OS, ASA and Firepower — ships at 9600 baud, 8-N-1, no flow control. The setting has not changed in twenty years, which is why a blank screen is almost never a baud-rate problem: it is the cable.
Console parameters · Cisco
Parameters by model
| Model | OS | Baud | Framing | Flow | Console port |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst 2960 / 2960-X / 2960-XR | IOS 15.2 | 9600 | 8N1 | none | RJ45 console (light-blue rollover cable) · USB mini-B console |
| Catalyst 9200 / 9300 / 9500 / 9600 | IOS-XE | 9600 | 8N1 | none | RJ45 console (rollover cable) · USB-C console |
| Catalyst 4500 / 6500 / 6800（Supervisor） | IOS / IOS-XE | 9600 | 8N1 | none | RJ45 console (rollover cable) · USB mini-B on some supervisors |
| ISR 1000 / 1100 / 4000 · Catalyst 8000 | IOS-XE | 9600 | 8N1 | none | RJ45 console (rollover cable) · USB mini-B |
| Nexus 3000 / 5000 / 7000 / 9000 · MDS 9000 | NX-OS | 9600 | 8N1 | none | RJ45 console (rollover cable) · USB-A (for USB flash) |
| ASA 5500-X · Firepower 1000 / 2100 | ASA / FTD | 9600 | 8N1 | none | RJ45 console (rollover cable) · USB mini-B |
Field notes
Catalyst 2960
Factory default is 9600-8-N-1, flow control none. Use the light-blue rollover cable included with the device; the console port is not an Ethernet port. Press Ctrl+Break within the first seconds of power-on to enter ROMMON for password recovery.
Catalyst 9000
IOS-XE default 9600-8-N-1. Newer models offer a USB-C console that needs the Cisco USB console driver on Windows. Some platforms allow changing the baud only while in ROMMON.
Catalyst modular
9600-8-N-1 default. Break at power-on enters ROMMON on the supervisor for password recovery; console cabling is the light-blue rollover type.
ISR / Catalyst 8000
9600-8-N-1 default. Console access is required for initial configuration because ISR ships without an enable secret; Ctrl+Break during boot reaches ROMMON.
Nexus / MDS
9600-8-N-1 default. On NX-OS, break at power-on or Ctrl+C during boot drops to loader> prompt for password recovery.
ASA / Firepower
9600-8-N-1 default. Break within first seconds enters ROMMON/loader for image recovery on ASA/Firepower.
Why it looks dead when it is not
Blank terminal at 9600
The console port is an RJ45 socket but it is not Ethernet. A straight-through patch lead gives you silence. You need the light-blue rollover cable that ships with the device.
Garbage characters
Somebody changed the console speed, or your USB-to-serial adapter is misreporting its divisor. Try 115200 and 38400 before you swap hardware.
Password recovery
Start the terminal session first, power-cycle the device, and send Ctrl+Break in the first few seconds of boot to land in ROMMON.
Catalyst 9000 USB-C console shows nothing
The USB-C console needs a data cable. Charge-only cables enumerate as power delivery only and will never appear as a serial device.
Sources
Cisco Technical Support: console default settings — www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/switches/catalyst-6000-series-switche
Cisco Catalyst 9000 Hardware Installation Guide — www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/catalyst-9300-series-switches/
Cisco Technical Support: console default settings — www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/switches/catalyst-6000-series-switche
Cisco ISR 4000 Quick Start Guide — www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/routers/4000-series-integrated-services-ro
Cisco Nexus 9000 Getting Started Guide — www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/
Cisco ASA / Firepower Getting Started Guide — www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/security/asa-5500-x-series-next-generation
Questions people actually ask
- What baud rate does a Cisco switch use?
- 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no flow control. This applies to Catalyst, Nexus, ISR, ASA and Firepower console ports.
- Is a Cisco console cable the same as a null modem cable?
- Functionally yes — it crosses TX and RX — but the physical pinout is an RJ45 rollover, not a DB9 null modem. Do not substitute a DB9 null modem cable into an RJ45 console port.
Reading this at a rack, with no laptop?
PlugConsole turns a phone and an OTG serial cable into a browser terminal. Someone on site plugs in, you take the console from anywhere — no client software, no VPN, no drive to site. The settings on this page are built into the field console, so you pick the model and the parameters are already right.