Recovering A Lost Password - Cisco 7500 Series Configuration Manual

Chapter 4 Performing a Basic Configuration of the System
An enable secret password can contain from 1 to 25 uppercase and lowercase alphanumeric characters;
an enable password can contain any number of uppercase and lowercase alphanumeric characters. In
both cases, a number cannot be the first character. Spaces are also valid password characters; for
example, "two words" is a valid password. Leading spaces are ignored; trailing spaces are recognized.

Recovering a Lost Password

This section provides information on how to recover a lost password. Following is an overview:
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Note A key to recovering a lost password is to set the configuration register so that the contents of NVRAM
are ignored (0x0040), allowing you to see your password.
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To recover a lost password, use the following procedure:
If the enable password is encrypted, the following procedure will not work for password recovery.
Note
Instead, you will have to reconfigure the router using the displayed configuration.
Step 1 Attach an ASCII terminal to the router console port, which is located on the rear panel.
Step 2 Configure the terminal to operate at 9600 bps, 8 data bits, no parity, 2 stop bits.
Step 3 Enter the show version command to display the existing configuration register value. Note this value for
later use in Step 13.
Step 4 If the Break function is disabled, power cycle the router. (To power cycle, turn off the router, wait 5
seconds, and then turn it on again.) If the Break function is enabled on the router, press the Break key or
send a break (^[) signal and then proceed to Step 5.
Step 5 Within 5 seconds of turning on the router, press the Break key. This action causes the terminal to display
the bootstrap program prompt:
rommon 1>
Step 6 Set the configuration register to ignore the configuration file information as follows:
rommon 1> confreg
enabled are:
console baud: 9600
boot: image specified by the boot system command
do you wish to change the configuration? y/n [n]: y
enable "diagnostic mode"? y/n [n]:
enable "use net in IP bcast address"? y/n [n]:
OL-5008-03 B0
Enter the show version command to note the existing software configuration register value.
Break to the bootstrap program prompt.
Change the configuration register to ignore NVRAM.
Enter privileged level in the system EXEC.
Enter the show startup-configuration command to display the enable password.
Change the configuration register value back to its original setting.
Configuration Summary
or default to: cisco2-RSP
Cisco 7500 Series Installation and Configuration Guide

Recovering a Lost Password

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