Appendix D. Password Recovery

This appendix covers the following specifications regarding password recovery for Cisco networking devices:

• Cisco routers let you bypass the configuration file without losing the contents of that file. This allows for password recovery.

• Two different processor types are available for Cisco routers. Each processor type has a slightly different process for password recovery.

• You must have access to the console port to perform password recovery.

Password recovery allows you to regain administrative control of your device if you have lost or forgotten the password. The basic premise is simple ”you need to get privileged access to your router without the password's taking effect. Then you need to restore the configuration and reset the password to a known value.