Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series, Configuration Manual

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Related Topics
Disabling Password Recovery, on page 762
Password Recovery, on page 757
Information About Passwords and Privilege Levels
Default Password and Privilege Level Configuration
A simple way of providing terminal access control in your network is to use passwords and assign privilege
levels. Password protection restricts access to a network or network device. Privilege levels define what
commands users can enter after they have logged into a network device.
This table shows the default password and privilege level configuration.
Table 84: Default Password and Privilege Levels
Default Setting Feature
No password is defined. The default is level 15
(privileged EXEC level). The password is not
encrypted in the configuration file. Enable password and privilege level
No password is defined. The default is level 15
(privileged EXEC level). The password is encrypted
before it is written to the configuration file. Enable secret password and privilege level
No password is defined. Line password
Additional Password Security
To provide an additional layer of security, particularly for passwords that cross the network or that are stored
on a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server, you can use either the
enable password or enable secret
global configuration commands. Both commands accomplish the same thing; that is, you can establish an
encrypted password that users must enter to access privileged EXEC mode (the default) or any privilege level
you specify.
We recommend that you use the enable secret command because it uses an improved encryption algorithm.
If you configure the enable secret command, it takes precedence over the enable password command; the
two commands cannot be in effect simultaneously.
If you enable password encryption, it applies to all passwords including username passwords, authentication
key passwords, the privileged command password, and console and virtual terminal line passwords.
Related Topics
Protecting Enable and Enable Secret Passwords with Encryption, on page 760
Example: Protecting Enable and Enable Secret Passwords with Encryption, on page 772
Consolidated Platform Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release 15.2(4)E (Catalyst 2960-X Switches)
756
Information About Passwords and Privilege Levels