Router Password Recovery (all classes except Intro to Networking)

Note: The following procedure does not apply to the pods used in the first year Intro to Networking courses, which use different equipment. See the "1st Year Router & Switch Password Recovery" knowledgebase article for details.

Cisco Router Password Recovery Procedure

All passwords used in the lab should be either cisco or class. In the event that neither of these passwords work, you can perform a password recovery by following this procedure:

1. Ensure you have a working console connection to the affected router. You should see the router login prompt on your screen.
2. Turn the router off and back on again (use the power menu to accomplish this).
3. When the router turns back on, quickly enter the break sequence. When connected through the access server, the break sequence is ~b. This should put you in ROMMON mode.
4. At the rommon 1> prompt, enter the command confreg 0x2142. This sets the configuration register to ignore the startup configuration when booting, effectively bypassing the password
5. Enter the command reset to restart the router. It should boot up with a blank configuration allowing you to bypass the password.
6. Once you are back into the router (at the Router> prompt), type enable to get into privileged exec mode. You should not be prompted for a password.
7. Use the command erase startup-config to erase the saved passwords from the startup configuration. Press ENTER when asked to confirm.
8. At the Router# prompt, enter config t to get into configuration mode.
9. Enter the command config-register 0x2102 in order to reset the configuration register.

Please ensure that you always use either cisco or class as your passwords when configuring the routers, and always make sure to erase your configurations before you leave class.