IT Hardwares


eg: UK or Brides UK or Classical Art or Buy Music or Spirituality

Business & Money

Technology

Women

Health

Education

Family

Travel

Cars

Entertainment

Featured Sites

Asa 5505 Security Appliance

View:

In this article, I'll explain how to perform a password "reset" on your Cisco ASA security appliance. The more commonly used term for this procedure is "password recovery" which is left over from the days when you could actually view passwords in configuration files in plain text. Today, such passwords are encrypted and not actually recoverable. Instead, you will gain access to the appliance via the console port and reset the password(s) to known values.

This procedure requires physical access to the device. You will power-cycle your appliance by unplugging it at the power strip and plugging it back in. You will then interrupt the boot process and change the configuration register value to prevent the appliance from reading its stored configuration at boot. Since the device ignores its saved configuration on boot, you are able to access its configuration modes without passwords. Once you're in configuration mode, you will load the saved configuration from flash memory, change the passwords to a known value, change the configuration register value to tell the device to load its saved configuration on boot, and reload the device.

Caution: As with all configuration procedures, these procedures should be tested in a laboratory environment prior to usage in a production environment to ensure suitability for your situation.

The following steps were designed using a Cisco ASA 5505 Security Appliance. They are not appropriate for a Cisco PIX Firewall appliance.

1. Power-cycle your security appliance by removing and re-inserting the power plug at the power strip.

2. When prompted, press Esc to interrupt the boot process and enter ROM Monitor mode. You should immediately see a rommon prompt (rommon #0>).

3. At the rommon prompt, enter the confreg command to view the current configuration register setting: rommon #0>confreg

4. The current configuration register should be the default of 0x01 (it will actually display as 0x00000001). The security appliance will ask if you want to make changes to the configuration register. Answer no when prompted.

5. You must change the configuration register to 0x41, which tells the appliance to ignore its saved (startup) configuration upon boot: rommon #1>confreg 0x41

6. Reset the appliance with the boot command: rommon #2>boot

7. Notice that the security appliance ignores its startup configuration during the boot process. When it finishes booting, you should see a generic User Mode prompt: ciscoasa>

8. Enter the enable command to enter Privileged Mode. When the appliance prompts you for a password, simply press (at this point, the password is blank): ciscoasa>enable Password: ciscoasa#

9. Copy the startup configuration file into the running configuration with the following command: ciscoasa#copy startup-config running-config Destination filename [running-config]?

10. The previously saved configuration is now the active configuration, but since the security appliance is already in Privileged Mode, privileged access is not disabled. Next, in configuration mode, enter the following command to change the Privileged Mode password to a known value (in this case, we'll use the password system): asa#conf t asa(config)#enable password system

11. While still in Configuration Mode, reset the configuration register to the default of 0x01 to force the security appliance to read its startup configuration on boot: asa(config)#config-register 0x01

12. Use the following commands to view the configuration register setting: asa(config)#exit asa#show version

13. At bottom of the output of the show version command, you should see the following statement: Configuration register is 0x41 (will be 0x1 at next reload)

14. Save the current configuration with the copy run start command to make the above changes persistent: asa#copy run start Source filename [running-config]

15. Reload the security appliance: asa# reload System config has been modified. Save? [Y]es/[N]o:yes

Cryptochecksum: e87f1433 54896e6b 4e21d072 d71a9cbf

2149 bytes copied in 1.480 secs (2149 bytes/sec) Proceed with reload? [confirm]

When your security appliance reloads, you should be able to use your newly reset password to enter privileged mode.

Copyright (c) 2007 Don R. Crawley

Asa 5505 Security Appliance

Banners can be configured to display when a user first connects (MOTD), when a user logs in (login), or when a user accesses privileged mode (exec). Banners are used for legal warnings such as when a user is cautioned not to access a restricted system or that their access of a system is subject to monitoring and logging. Banners are also used on locked systems placed at customer locations by service providers to provide contact information for device access or technical support. The Cisco security appliance supports the use of login banners in console sessions and Telnet sessions, but not in SSH sessions. Exec and MOTD banners are supported in console, Telnet, and SSH sessions. Banners can be up to 510 characters in length. You can create multiple line banners either by creating multiple banner statements or by using the keystroke sequence of "n" which inserts a carriage return.

Here's how banners are displayed:

MOTD Banners--When usernames are not configured, MOTD displays at login in a serial console session and before login in Telnet sessions. When usernames are configured, MOTD displays before login in a Telnet session and after login in a serial console session.

Login Banners--The login banner displays before login in Telnet and serial console sessions.

Exec Banners--The exec banner displays upon login in all sessions.

How to Configure a Banner

Note: The following procedures were tested on an ASA 5505 Security Appliance running software version 7.22. Other hardware or software platforms may require modification of these procedures in order to function properly.

To configure a banner, use the following configuration mode commands:

asa(config)#banner motd This is a restricted system.

asa(config)#banner motd Do not attempt unauthorized access.

Notice the use of two banner motd statements to create a multi-line banner. As mentioned previously, you can also use the "n" key sequence to insert a carriage return.

You can view the banners you created with the following privileged mode command:

asa#show running-config banner

Hands-On Exercise: Creating Banners on the Security Appliance

The following procedures are for training purposes only and should only be performed on devices in a laboratory environment. Under no circumstances should these procedures be performed on equipment in a live, production environment without first verifying their suitability in a laboratory environment.

In the following hands-on exercise, you will create MOTD, login, and EXEC banners.

Step 1: In configuration mode, enter the following commands:

asa(config)#banner motd This is the MOTD banner

asa(config)#banner login This is the login banner

asa(config)#banner exec This is the EXEC banner

Step 2: Display the banners you just created with the following command:

asa(config)#show running-config banner

Step 3: Type exit repeatedly until you are logged out of your laboratory security appliance.

Notice which banners are displayed.

Step 4: Enter privileged mode with the command "enable" and notice which banners are displayed.

Step 5: From your laboratory computer, start a Telnet session and again observe which banners are displayed. When you are finished, exit the Telnet session.

Step 6: Also from your laboratory computer, start an SSH session and again observe which banners are displayed. When you are finished, exit the SSH session.

Note: The above procedures are similar to the procedures used to configure banners on other Cisco devices including routers.

Copyright (c) 2007 Don R. Crawley

More Articles from

Disadvantages Of Mobile Computers

Related Articles
Author
Most Popular

•	Aas Cellular Gsm Home Security Alarm System, by Robert H
•	Aas Wireless Home Security Alarm System, by Roger Overanout
•	About Social Security Benefits, by Steve Selengut
•	Access Control And Security Systems, by Vikram Kuamr
•	Access Control Security System, by Dave Poon

Don R. Crawley has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Personal Desktop and Computers and The Internet. Don R. Crawley, CCNA-certified, is president and chief technologist at soundtraining.net, the Seattle training firm specializing in business skills and technical traini. Don R. Crawley's top article generates over 4400 views. Bookmark Don R. Crawley to your Favourites.

Cause Of Child Obesity
Parent education should focus on promotion of breastfeeding, recognition of signals of satiety, selection of low-fat snacks, good exercise habits and monitoring of television viewing