First Boot of The Router Storing Its Configuration PDF

International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering &Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 1 Issue1 pp 008-0013 March 2012
www. ijsret.org ISSN 2278 - 0882
FIRST BOOT OF THE ROUTER & STORING ITS CONFIGURATION

1
Gyan Prakash Pal

Faculty of Electronics & Communication Engineering Department,
Shanti Institute of Technology, Meerut (India),
2
Sadhana Pal
Faculty of Electronics & Communication Engineering Department,
Vishveshwarya Institute of Engineering & Technology, Greater Noida (India)
Abstract: Communication devices have become one

of the most important instruments to stay in touch with
each other. Router is a most important device, used to
connect different networks together and route packets
of data from one network to another. So its really
important to manage a router. If you are locked out of a
router because you forgot the password, this paper will
be helpful to re-inter the router. This paper also shows
the main components of a router, the router boot
sequence and the configuration register, including how
to use the configuration register for password recovery.
After reading this paper, a new user will understand
how to bring up a router and how to crack its password,
after that save the running configuration as a backup for
future use.
Keywords: Router, Configuration register, IOS, RAM,

ROM, NVRAM and CLI commands.
example) it will start in setup mode and it will ask if

you want to enter the initial configuration dialog. If you
answer with No, you'll be taken to the command prompt
and you'll be able to configure the router manually. If
you answer with Yes, you'll be taken through a list of
questions allowing you to configure the router e.g. set a
hostname and enable password and secret, configure
routed and routing protocols, and assign addresses to
interfaces. You can initiate this configuration dialog at
any time by using the setup command.
II. THE ROUTER BOOT SEQUENCE

When a router boots up, it performs a series of
steps, called the boot sequence, which test the hardware
and load the necessary software. The boot sequence
consists of the following steps:
I. INTRODUCTION
A router boots similar to a regular computer as it first
performs a power on self test (POST) for the hardware,
next loads bootstrap code from ROM, loads the IOS
image from Flash into RAM and finally the router
locates and loads a configuration file. You can reboot a
router by using the power switch or the reload
command.
The Internetwork Operating System (IOS) and
configuration files reside in different locations in a
router. So it is very important to understand both where
these files are located and how they work. The router
configuration is stored in NVRAM. This is the place
where the router will search for a configuration file.
Alternatively, you can configure the router to load a
configuration file from a TFTP server. If the router
cannot locate a configuration file (on a new router for
IJSRET @ 2012
a)The router performs a POST. The POST tests the

hardware to verify that all the components of the
device are operational and present. For example,
the POST checks for the different interfaces on
the router. The POST is stored in and run from
ROM.
b) The bootstrap then looks for and loads the IOS
software. The bootstrap is a program in ROM that
is used to execute programs. The bootstrap
program is responsible for finding where each
IOS program is located and then loading the file.
By default, the IOS software is loaded from flash
memory in all routers. The default order of an
IOS loading in a router is Flash, TFTP server,
then ROM.
c)The IOS software looks for a valid configuration
file stored in NVRAM. This file is called startupconfiguration. An administrator copies the
running-configuration file into NVRAM as a
startup-configuration.

d) If a startup-configuration file found in

NVRAM, the router will copy this file and place
it in RAM and call the file running-configuration.
Then the router will use this file to run the router.
14
04000
15
08000
III. CONFIGURATION REGISTER
The boot field, which consists of bits 0-3 in the

configuration register, controls the router boot
sequence. Table 3 describes the boot field bits.
All Cisco routers have a 16-bit (2 bytes)

configuration register thats written into NVRAM.
By default, the configuration register is set to load
the Cisco IOS from flash memory and load the
startup- configuration file from NVRAM.
The16-bit (2 bytes) of the configuration register is
read from 15 to 0, from left to right. The default
configuration setting on Cisco routers is 02102.
This means that bits 13, 8 and 1 are on, as shown in
Table 1. Notice that each set of 4 bits is read in
binary with a value of 8, 4, 2, 1.
Table 3: The Boot Field

Use
Boot
Field
00
To boot in ROM monitor mode, set the
Configuration register to 2100
01
To boot an IOS image stored in ROM, set
the Configuration register to 2101
02-F
Any value from 2102 through 210F tells the
router to use the boot commands specified in
NVRAM
Table 1: The Configuration Register Bit Number

Configur
ation
Register
Bit
number
Binary
IP broadcasts do not have net

numbers
Enable diagnostic message and
ignore NVRAM contents
CHECKING THE CURRENT

CONFIGURATION REGISTER
VALUE
IV.
2
1 1 1 1 1 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
5 4 3 2 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
To see the current value of the configuration

use the show version command:
Note: The prefix 0 to the configuration register

address means that the digits that follow are in
hexadecimal.
Table 2 lists the configuration register bit meanings.
Notice that bit 6 can be used to ignore the NVRAM
contents, so this bit is used for password recovery.
Table 2: configuration register bit meanings
Bit
Hex
Description
0-3
00000Boot field (see table 3)
0000F
6
00040
Ignore NVRAM contents
7
00080
OEM bit enabled
8
00100
break disabled
10
00400
IP broadcast with all zeros
5, 11- 00800Console line speed
12
01000
13
02000
Boot default ROM software if
network boot fails
IJSRET @ 2012
register,
Router# show version

Cisco IOS Software, 2800 Software (C2800NMIPBASE-M), Version 12.3(14)T7, RELEASE
SOFTWARE (fc2)
ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 12.1(3r)T2,
RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright (c) 2000 by cisco Systems, Inc.
System returned to ROM by power-on
System image file is "flash:c2800nm-ipbasemz.123-14.T7.bin"
cisco 2811 (MPC860) processor (revision 0x200)
with 60416K/5120K bytes of memory
Processor board ID JAD05190MTZ (4292891495)
M860 processor: part number 0, mask 49
1 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s)
3 FastEthernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s)
7
Low-speed
serial(sync/async)
network
interface(s)
239K bytes of NVRAM.

62720K bytes of processor board System flash

(Read/Write)
Configuration register is 0x2102
Router#
The last line of this command gives the value of the
configuration register. In the example, the value is
02102-the default setting.
Notice that the show version command also provides
the details of IOS version, ROM, RAM, NVRAM,
Flash memory and all interfaces in the preceding
example.
V. CHANGING THE CONFIGURATION

REGISTER
You can change the configuration register value to
modify how the router boots and runs. There are the
main reasons you would want to change the
configuration register:
To force the system into the ROM monitor
mode
To select a boot source and default boot
filename
To enable or disable the Break function
To control broadcast addresses
To set the console terminal baud rate
To load operating software from ROM
To enable booting from a Trivial File
Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server
Before changing the configuration register, make sure
you know the current configuration register value. Use
the show version command to get this information.
You can change the configuration register by using the
config-register command:
which will be when the router reboots. Any change to

the configuration register wont take effect until the
router is reloaded. The 02101 will load the IOS from
ROM the next time the router is rebooted.
Here is our router after setting the configuration register
to 02101 and reloading:
Router#show version
2800 Software (C2800NM-IPBASE-M), Version
12.3(14)T7, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc2)Cisco
IOS Software,
[output cut]
ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 12.1(3r)T2,
RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
System returned to ROM by power-on
System image file is "flash:c2800nm-ipbasemz.123-14.T7.bin"
[output cut]
A router has full IOS in flash. To set the configuration
register back to the default, just type this:
Router#config t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End
with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#config-register 0x2102
Router(config)#^Z
%SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by
console
Router#reload
Proceed with reload? [confirm]y
[output cut]
Router#show version
[output cut]
Router(config)#config-register 02101
Router(config)#^z
Router#
Router#show version
[Output cut]
Configuration register is 02102 (will be 02101 at
next reload)
Notice that the show version command displays the
current configuration register value and also that value
IJSRET @ 2012
VI. RECOVERING PASSWORDS

If you forgot the router password, you can change
the configuration register to login the router. As I
said earlier, bit 6 in the configuration register is used
to tell the router whether to use the contents of
NVRAM to load a router configuration (startupconfig).
The default configuration register value is 0x2102;
meaning that bit 6 is off. With the default setting, the

router will look for and load a router configuration

stored in NVRAM (startup-config). To recover a
password, you need to turn on the bit 6. Doing this
will tell the router to ignore the NVRAM contents.
The configuration register value after turn on bit 6 is
0x2142.
Here are the main steps to password recovery:
1. Boot the router and interrupt the boot sequence
by performing a break, which will take the
router into ROM monitor mode.
2. Change the configuration register to turn on bit
6 (with the value 0x2142).
3. Reload the router.
4. Enter privileged mode.
5. Copy the startup-configuration file to runningconfiguration.
6. Change the password.
7. Reset the configuration register to the default
value.
8. Save the router configuration.
9. Reload the router (optional).
Interrupting the Router Boot Sequence:
Your first step is to boot the router and perform a break.
This is usually done by pressing the Ctrl+Break key
combination when using HyperTerminal while the
router first reboot.
Router#reload
Proceed with reload? [confirm]y
%SYS-5-RELOAD: Reload requested by console.
Reload Reason: Reload Command.
System Bootstrap, Version 12.1(3r)T2, RELEASE
SOFTWARE (fc1)
cisco 2811 (MPC860) processor (revision 0x200) with
60416K/5120K bytes of memory
Self decompressing the image :
##########
monitor: command "boot" aborted due to user interrupt
rommon 1 >
Notice the line monitor: command "boot" aborted due
to user interrupt. At this point, you will be at the
rommon 1 > prompt, which is called ROM monitor
mode.
Changing the Configuration Register:
You can change the configuration register by using the

config-register command. To turn on bit 6, use the
configuration register value 0x2142.
Remember that if you change the configuration register
to 0x2142, the startup-configuration will be bypassed
and the router will load into setup mode.
To change the bit value on a Cisco ISR/2800 series
router, you just enter the command:
rommon 1 > confreg 0x2142
You must reset or power cycle for new configuration
to take effect
rommon 2 > reset
SOFTWARE (fc1)
###########################################
############################### [OK]
Restricted Rights Legend
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
(c) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted
Rights clause at FAR sec. 52.227-19 and subparagraph
(c) (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and
Computer
Software clause at DFARS sec. 252.227-7013.
cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, California 95134-1706
SOFTWARE (fc2)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2006 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Wed 22-Mar-06 18:40 by pt_team
Image text-base: 0x40095498, data-base: 0x414E0000
IJSRET @ 2012

7 Low-speed serial(sync/async) network interface(s)

239K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
(Read/Write)
SOFTWARE (fc2)
Resetting the Configuration Register and Reloading

the Router:
After you are finished changing password, set the
configuration register back to the default value with the
config-register command:
Router#config t
Router(config)#config-register 0x2102
Router(config)#
Finally, save the new configuration with a copy
running-config startup-config and reload the router.
Router#copy running-config startup-config
Destination filename [startup-config]?
Building configuration...
[OK]
Router#
Router#reload
Proceed with reload? [confirm]
--- System Configuration Dialog --Continue with configuration dialog? [yes/no]: n

Press RETURN to get started!
Router>en
Router#
The router will reload and ask if you want to use setup
mode (because no startup-config is used). Answer NO
to entering setup mode; press Enter to go into user
mode and then type enable to go into privileged mode.
Viewing and Changing the Configuration:
Now you are past the point where you would need to
enter the user-mode and privileged-mode password in a
router. Copy the startup-config file to the runningconfig file:
Router#copy startup-config running-config
or use the shortcut:
Router#copy start run
The configuration is now running in random access
memory (RAM), and you are in privileged mode,
meaning that you can now view and change the
configuration. But you cant view the enable secret
setting for the password since it is encrypted. To change
the password, do this
Router#config t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with
CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#enable secret Gyan
Router(config)#
%SYS-5-RELOAD: Reload requested by console.

Reload Reason: Reload Command.
SOFTWARE (fc1)
###########################################
############################### [OK]
Restricted Rights Legend
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
(c) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted
Rights clause at FAR sec. 52.227-19 and
subparagraph
(c) (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and
Computer
Software clause at DFARS sec. 252.227-7013.
cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, California 95134-1706
SOFTWARE (fc2)
IJSRET @ 2012


Image text-base: 0x40095498, data-base: 0x414E0000
7 Low-speed serial(sync/async) network interface(s)
239K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
(Read/Write)
SOFTWARE (fc2)
Compiled Wed 22-Mar-06 18:40 by pt team
%LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface Vlan1, changed
state to up
%LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface FastEthernet0/0,
changed state to up
changed state to up
changed state to up
%LINK-5-CHANGED:
Interface
Ethernet1/1/0,
changed state to up
changed state to administratively down
%LINK-5-CHANGED:
Interface
Ethernet1/1/0,
%LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface Vlan1, changed
state to administratively down
Press RETURN to get started!
By the help of changing configuration register, you

can bypass the booting sequence to enter the router.
Now you can recover the password of the router
and save the running-configuration file to the
startup-configuration for future use. Have a pleasant
stay in your router.
REFERENCES
[1] Comer, D. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Volume 1:
Principles, Protocols and Architecture. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
[2] Comer, D. Computer Networks. Upper Saddle
[3] Huitema, C. Routing in the Internet. Upper Saddle
[4] Perlman, R. Interconnection: Bridges, Routers,
Switches and Internetworking Protocols. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 2000.
[5] Stallings, W. Data and Computer Communications.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004.
[6] Stallings, W. High Speed Networks. Upper Saddle
[7] Yuan R. and Strayer, W. Virtual Private Network.
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2001.
[8] Tanenbaum, A. Computer Networks. Upper Saddle
[9] Peterson, L. and Davie B. Computer Networks: A
System Approach. San Francisco, CA: Morgan,
Kaufmans, 2000.
[10]Moy, J. OSPF: Anatomy of an Internet Routing
Protocol. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1998.
Router>
Router>enable
Password:
Router#
VII. CONCLUSION
IJSRET @ 2012

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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering &Technology (IJSRET)

Volume 1 Issue1 pp 008-0013 March 2012

www. ijsret.org ISSN 2278 - 0882