ASA Password Recovery Procedure

To recover passwords for the ASA, perform the following steps:

Step 1 Connect to the ASA console port according to the instructions in "Accessing the Command-Line Interface" section.

Step 2 Power off the ASA, and then power it on.

Step 3 After startup, press the Escape key when you are prompted to enter ROMMON mode.

Step 4 To update the configuration register value, enter the following command:

rommon #1> confreg 0x41

Update Config Register (0x41) in NVRAM...

Step 5 To set the ASA to ignore the startup configuration, enter the following command:

rommon #1> confreg

The ASA displays the current configuration register value, and asks whether you want to change it:

Current Configuration Register: 0x00000041

Configuration Summary: 

  boot default image from Flash

  ignore system configuration

Do you wish to change this configuration? y/n [n]: y

Step 6 Record the current configuration register value, so you can restore it later.

Step 7 At the prompt, enter Y to change the value.

The ASA prompts you for new values.

Step 8 Accept the default values for all settings. At the prompt, enter Y.

Step 9 Reload the ASA by entering the following command:

rommon #2> boot

Launching BootLoader...

Boot configuration file contains 1 entry.

Loading disk0:/asa800-226-k8.bin... Booting...Loading...

The ASA loads the default configuration instead of the startup configuration.

Step 10 Access the privileged EXEC mode by entering the following command:

hostname> enable

Step 11 When prompted for the password, press Enter.

The password is blank.

Step 12 Load the startup configuration by entering the following command:

hostname# copy startup-config running-config

Step 13 Access the global configuration mode by entering the following command:

hostname# configure terminal

Step 14 Change the passwords, as required, in the default configuration by entering the following commands:

hostname(config)# password password

hostname(config)# enable password password

hostname(config)# username name password password

Step 15 Load the default configuration by entering the following command:

hostname(config)# no config-register 

The default configuration register value is 0x1.

Step 16 Save the new passwords to the startup configuration by entering the following command:

hostname(config)# copy running-config startup-config

Disabling Password Recovery

You might want to disable password recovery to  ensure that unauthorized users cannot use the password recovery  mechanism to compromise the ASA.

On the ASA, the no service password-recovery command prevents a user from entering ROMMON mode with the configuration intact. When a user enters ROMMON mode, the ASA  prompts the user to erase all Flash file systems. The user cannot enter  ROMMON mode without first performing this erasure. If a user chooses  not to erase the Flash file system, the ASA  reloads. Because password recovery depends on using ROMMON mode and  maintaining the existing configuration, this erasure prevents you from  recovering a password. However, disabling password recovery prevents  unauthorized users from viewing the configuration or inserting different  passwords. In this case, to restore the system to an operating state,  load a new image and a backup configuration file, if available.