While attempting to "try new things" because I am out of options with my FreeRADIUS goat-toss (separate though related issue and aging series of tickets, also still un-resolved),... I misconfigured my SG2008 switch by enabling 802.1x on the port which was configured for and connected to my SDC. No other ports were configured such that the SDC could be reconnected on a different port ... So as you might have guessed, I had to factory reset the SG2008 switch.

Now, I remember thinking ... hey, no big deal. The SDC has the devices configuration saved right? So i simply undo my mistake within the Controller for the switch port, factory reset the switch, wait for it to boot, force provision from SDC and viola .... back to golden! Right?   Nope!

Imagine the needle of a panic meter slamming all the way to "freak out" so hard that it actually begins spinning on the gauge, breaking the glass, flying off its spindle and embedding itself into the nearby wall only inches from the receptionists head .... yep, that's me right now.

The SDC did in fact see the switch device as it finished rebooting after having performed a factory reset .... but the SDC sees the switch as a BRAND NEW device, never before connected .... its as if the SDC magically wiped any knowledge of its previous existence from all of its data stores... 

Except ..... 

the switches MAC address hasn't changed, Hmmmmmm....  nor has its IP to MAC binding both still present within the SDC. And hold on a minute, on closer inspection I still have all of my switch and vlan profiles right there in the SDC ... but the reset switch is somehow strange to the SDC now. Force Provisioning doesnt do squat, I have to go in and RECONFIGURE THE ENTIRE SWITCH FROM SCRATCH?! Clearly I'm missing something here....

I mean, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Where in the virtually non-existent switch documentation does it state in HUGE BOLD RED LETTERS that factory resetting the device will LOSE ALL CONFIGURED SETTINGS? I must be blind, because I keep looking and I still haven't been abe to find anything like that documented anywhere. Getting past that, though I am nowhere near past it believe that .... Is there nothing that can be done to recover the switches pre-factory-reset configuration such that something can be salvaged and reapplied to the device post-disaster?

I realize, the hardware is relatively inexpensive when compared to other "business class" options and I also realize that a customer with expectations sometimes looks a lot like an entitled millennial throwing a tantrum ... but I am not a millennial, I'm not throwing a tantrum (yes I am), and this is a very REAL and show stopping problem which I still can't believe anyone should ever have to suffer through. I mean Hello?! the SDC has all of the configurable information about the devices it controls within it.... Right? Doesn't it?!

But if not, then why on EARTH would a vendor take away the customers ability as an administrator to connect directly to the device post-adoption to SDC? That right there signals complete lunacy should anyone ever consider adopting any device ever again, I think Id rather just use them stand alone than to endure this nightmare again. Quite literally every single aspect of my network is down right now because of this. And at present, the only solution or way forward appears to be to reconfigure the switch from scratch and PRAY that it never happens again. Because if it should, there will be no way to recover without repeating this .... HELLSCAPE of a nightmare all over again.

So please enlighten me .... and anyone else who has had or will someday have this happen to them.... please tell us that there is a hope. That we don't actually have to manually reinvent the wheel from scratch every time we need to reset a switch.

 What is the general concensis on "best practices" with regard to recovering a factory reset switches pre-reset / disaster configuration?

SPOILER ALERT

Something other than "reconfigure from scratch" would be needed in the way of a response in order to be considered minimally acceptable.

And Thank You!, once again, for both your valuable time and kind consideration toward helping to one day perhaps resolving this enduring calamity.