10/4/2014

Recovering the Root Password for SRX Series Devices - Technical Documentation - Support - Juniper Networks

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Recovering the Root Password for SRX Series Devices

If you forget the root password for an SRX Series device, you can use the password recovery procedure to reset
the root password. This procedure also involves disabling the watchdog functionality to allow the system to
properly boot into single-user mode (KB article 17565).
Note: You need console access to recover the root password
To recover the root password for an SRX Series device:
Power on the device by pressing the power button on the front panel. Verify that the POWER LED on the front
panel turns green.
The devices boot sequence on your management device appears on the terminal emulation screen.
When the autoboot completes, press the Spacebar a few times to access the bootstrap loader prompt.
In operational mode, disable the watchdog functionality and enter boot -s to start up the system in singleuser mode.
loader>boot -s
The SRX Series device will start up in single-user mode.
Enter recovery to start the root password recovery procedure.
System watchdog timer disabled.
Enter full pathname of shell or 'recovery' for root password recovery or RETURN for
/bin/sh: recovery
Enter configuration mode in the CLI.
Set the root password.
[edit]
user@host# set system root-authentication plain-text-password
Enter the new root password.
New password: juniper1
Retype new password:
At the second prompt, reenter the new root password.
If you are finished configuring the network, commit the configuration.
root@host# commit
commit complete
Exit from configuration mode.
Exit from operational mode.
Enter y to reboot the device.
Reboot the system? [y/n] y
The start up messages display on the screen.
Once again, press the Spacebar a few times to access the bootstrap loader prompt.
In operational mode, enable the watchdog functionality and enter boot to start up the system.
http://www.juniper.net/techpubs/en_US/junos12.1x44/topics/task/operational/security-root-password-srx-series-device-recovering.html

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10/4/2014

Recovering the Root Password for SRX Series Devices - Technical Documentation - Support - Juniper Networks

loader>watchdog enable
loader>boot
The SRX Series device starts up again and prompts you to enter a user name and password. Enter the newly
configured password:
Wed Jul 12 14:20:21 UTC 2011
Deviceabc (ttyu0)
login: root
Password: juniper1

Related Documentation
J Series
Recovering the Root Password for J Series Devices
Additional Information
System Log Messages
Troubleshooting for Security Devices
Published: 2013-08-13

http://www.juniper.net/techpubs/en_US/junos12.1x44/topics/task/operational/security-root-password-srx-series-device-recovering.html

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