Factory Reset

Information About Factory Reset

Factory reset removes all the customer-specific data that has been added to a device since the time of its shipping. The erased data includes configurations, log files, boot variables, core files, and credentials such as Federal Information Processing Standard-related (FIPS-related) keys.

The device returns to its default license configuration after a factory reset.


Note

Factory reset is performed using the use factory-reset all secure 3-pass IOS CLI . A copy of the running image is backed up and restored after the reset.

Prerequisites for Performing Factory Reset

  • Ensure that all the software images, configurations, and personal data are backed up.

  • Ensure that there is uninterrupted power supply when the factory reset is in progress.

  • Ensure that you take a backup of the current image.

Performing Factory Reset

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

enable

Example:

Device> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

Enter your password, if prompted.

Step 2

factory-reset all secure 3-pass

Example:

Device# factory-reset all secure 3-pass

Removes sensitive data from all the partitions that are currently being cleaned up by the factory-reset all command.

The following are the three passes to erase data in disk partitions:

  • Write 0s

  • Write 1s

  • Write a random byte

Note

 

The factory reset takes 3 to 6 hours to be completed.

Performing Secure Erase

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

enable

Example:

Device> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

Enter your password, if prompted.

Step 2

factory-reset all secure

Example:

Device# factory-reset all secure

Erases all user data and metadata from bootflash and harddisk. The erase is compliant with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards.

Note

 

The erase takes around 5 to10 minutes. You need to boot a new image from TFTP post the secure erase as the image gets deleted.