Enable Secret and Password Encryption on R1

Bundle lab · $29.99

Harden privileged access on a single IOS router by configuring a hashed enable secret, creating a local admin user with privilege 15 and a secret, and enabling service password-encryption. Verify that privileged access requires the secret and that the running-config contains no cleartext passwords.

Learning objectives

• Explain the difference between enable password (plaintext) and enable secret (hashed).
• Configure a local admin account with privilege 15 using a secure secret.
• Enable service password-encryption to obfuscate any remaining plaintext line passwords.
• Verify that the running-config stores the enable secret as a hash and contains no cleartext passwords.

Troubleshooting focus

• If enable still accepts a simple password, verify you used 'enable secret', not 'enable password'.
• If 'show run' displays cleartext passwords, confirm 'service password-encryption' is present.
• If you cannot reach the router from ADMIN, verify interface Ethernet0/0 is up/up with 10.0.0.1/24 and the ADMIN default route points to 10.0.0.1.
• If the username does not work later in the series for SSH, verify you used 'username <name> secret <pw>' and not the plaintext 'password' variant.