How to Recover a Cisco IOS Router Password

This technique is very useful for when you forget or misplace your router password. It gives you easy access to recover your router.

What You Need

1. Router (whose password is to be recovered)
2. PC (laptop or desktop)
3. Router Console cable (to connect PC to Router)
4. Terminal emulation software (on PC), e.g., puTTy

Steps

•          Connect the affected router to your PC using the Console cable.

•          On the PC, launch your terminal emulation software and enter the following configurations.
  • Bits Per Second: 9600
  • Data Bits: 8
  • Parity: None
  • Stop Bits: 1
  • Flow Control: None

• Click OK and turn on your router.

•           The terminal windows should show the router booting up and all the details of its OS.

•          At the point of the bootup process, hit, Ctrl+break/pause keys to enter the ROMMON (ROM Monitor) mode. You have just 60 seconds; make that 40.

• If the Ctrl+break/pause key combo doesn’t work for you, then you may need to add ‘fn,’ i.e., Ctrl+fn+break.

• For other terminals, try any of these.

Source: Cisco

·         If you can see the prompt ‘rommon 1>’ then type ‘confreg 0x2142.’ This allows you to bypass the initial startup config on your router.

·         Then type reset to reboot your router.

• The router will bypass the startup configuration, and you will be able to access its privilege exec mode and global configuration.
• Change the password by typing enable password password or enable secret password

·         Save your changes by typing ‘copy run start’ and enter.

·         From the global configuration mode, router(config)#, change the configuration register back by typing ‘config-register 0x2102’ and enter.

·         Reboot the router with the command ‘do reload’ at global config or ‘reload’ at privilege and enter.

Now, you will be able to log in to the router with the new password you have assigned.

Cheers.