Password Recovery Procedure for the Cisco 2900 Integrated Services Router

Perform these steps in order to recover your password:

1.     Either switch off or shut down the router.

2.     Remove the compact flash that is on the rear of the router. This image shows the rear of the Cisco 2951 router:

For more information, refer to Back Panel Slots and Connectors on the Cisco 2921 and 2951 Routers.

3.     Switch on the router.

4.     Once the Cisco router is on Rommon mode, reinsert the compact flash.

5.     Type confreg 0x2142 at the rommon 1> prompt in order to boot from Flash.

This step bypasses the startup configuration where the passwords are stored.

6.     Type reset at the rommon 2> prompt.

The router reboots, but ignores the saved configuration.

7.     Type no after each setup question, or press Ctrl-C in order to skip the initial setup procedure.

8.     Type enable at the Router> prompt.

You are in enable mode and should see the Router# prompt.

9.     Type configure memory or copy startup-config running-config in order to copy the nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) into memory.

Warning:  Do not enter copy running-config startup-config or write. These commands erase your startup configuration.

10.   Issue the show running-config command.

The show running-config command shows the configuration of the router. In this configuration, the shutdown command appears under all interfaces, which indicates all interfaces are currently shut down. In addition, the passwords (enable password, enable secret, vty, and console passwords) are in either an encrypted or unencrypted format. You can reuse unencrypted passwords. You must change encrypted passwords to a new password.

11.   Type configure terminal.

The hostname(config)# prompt appears.

12.   Type enable secret <password> in order to change the enable secret password. For example:

 13. hostname(config)#enable secret cisco 

14.   Issue the no shutdown command on every interface that you use.

If you issue a show ip interface brief command, every interface that you want to use should display up up.

15.   Type config-register <configuration_register_setting> . Where <configuration_register_setting> is either the value you recorded in step 2 or 0x2102 . For example:

 16. hostname(config)#config-register 0x2102 

17.   Press Ctrl-z or end in order to leave the configuration mode.

The hostname# prompt appears.

18.   Type write memory or copy running-config startup-config in order to commit the changes.