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

The factory reset is performed through an 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

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. factory-reset all secure 3-pass

DETAILED STEPS

  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.

From Cisco IOS-XE 17.10 onwards, 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

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. factory-reset all secure

DETAILED STEPS

  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. 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.