Cisco Systems 7401ASR manual Replacing or Recovering a Lost Password

Chapter 3 Starting and Configuring

Replacing or Recovering a Lost Password

•Understanding and working with the user interface on your router

•Booting and rebooting the router

•Setting the configuration register—see the Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Configuration Guide

•Loading configuration files or system images using remote copy protocol (rcp) or Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)

•Reloading the operating system

Replacing or Recovering a Lost Password

This section describes how to recover a lost enable or console login password, and how to replace a lost enable secret password on your Cisco 7401ASR router.

Note It is possible to recover the enable or console login password. The enable secret password is encrypted, however, and must be replaced with a new enable secret password.

Overview of the Password Recovery Procedure

Following is an overview of the steps in the password recovery procedure:

Step 1 If you can log in to the router, enter the show version command to determine the existing configuration register value.

Step 2 Press the Break key to get to the bootstrap program prompt (ROM monitor). You might need to reload the system image by power cycling the router.

Step 3 Change the configuration register so the following functions are enabled:

a.Break

b.Ignore startup configuration

c.Boot from Flash memory

Note The key to recovering a lost password is to set the configuration register bit 6 (0x0040) so that the startup configuration (usually in NVRAM) is ignored. This allows you to log in without using a password and to display the startup configuration passwords.

Step 4 Power cycle the router by turning power off and then back on.

Note After powering off the router, wait at least 30 seconds before powering it on again.

Step 5 Log in to the router and enter the privileged EXEC mode.

Step 6 Enter the show startup-configcommand to display the passwords.

	Cisco 7401ASR Installation and Configuration Guide
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