4-9
Cisco 7500 Series Installation and Configuration Guide
OL-5008-03 B0
Chapter 4 Performing a Basic Configuration of the System
Recovering a Lost Password
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:
•
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.
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.
•
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.
To recover a lost password, use the following procedure:
Note
If the enable password is encrypted, the following procedure will not work for password recovery.
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
Configuration Summary
enabled are:
console baud: 9600
boot: image specified by the boot system command
or default to: cisco2-RSP
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]: