Resetting entire PIX 506 to factory defaults

[srberg5219]

Recently purchased a pre-owned PIX 506 running 5.1(2). (I can't upgrade this software since I do not have a service contract).

Although the company I purchased this from reset the password, I want to make sure all their configuration is cleared off and start with a clean slate.

How do I reset a PIX 506 running 5.1(2) to its' factory default? Also, will I need to re enter the activation key if I do this? This was not provided to me.

[vitripat]

There is a command to reset the PIX-506 to factory default settings, however, this command was introduced in 6.2(1) version.

I'm not sure if you are entitled to download the software from the following link:

http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/pix

This link requires that your CCO ID is entitled to download software or not. If you have any other contract, you may have access to the above link. Incase you are able to access the above link, download "pix635.bin". This is the latest image for your PIX. Once you get this image, you can use following link for instructions on how to perform upgrade:

http://www.cisco.com/warp/customer/110/upgrade.shtml#upgrade511

If required, you can download TFTP server from following link:

http://tftpd32.jounin.net/tftpd32_download.html

Once you have upgraded the firewall, you can use following command for resetting the device back to factory settings:

configure factory-default

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/iaabu/pix/pix_sw/v_62/cmdref/c.htm#wp1055799

You wont loose your activation-key in this process. You can find your activation-key using following command.

"show version"

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Vibhor.

[vitripat]

Incase you dont have access to the software download link, there is another way (manual way) too for setting up your device to factory default config.

Move to configuration mode using "config t" command and then use "write erase". This will erase the current configuration from flash. Next, reload the device. When it boots up, it will ask if you'd like to preconfigure the device. You can choose yes and continue with the questions. Else, you can choose no and it will bring you to normal command prompt. From there again move to enable and then configuration mode.

Now as the configuration is blank, you can proceed with your desired configuration from here.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Vibhor.