How do I recover or reset the administrator password for a SonicWall firewall appliance?

03/26/2020 1179 76050

DESCRIPTION:

In some instances the administrator user name or password for the SonicWall appliance may be lost or corrupted. When this occurs there is no way to reset the password or discover it as an administrator, nor can SonicWall technical support provide any reset or recovery for lost administration credentials.

SonicWall appliances are first and foremost security devices, meaning they are not programmed with backdoors or other exploitable methods of access. While this has the downside of potentially locking an administrator out of their device, the benefit of a hardened and secure network outweigh these concerns.

If the administration credentials for a SonicWall are misplaced then there are only two options available, as presented below.

RESOLUTION:

Solution 1: Factory Default the SonicWall and Import a Supported Settings File

1. Put the SonicWall into safe mode. If you're unsure how to do this, reference Entering Safe Mode from both the GUI and Command Line Interface.
2. Boot the SonicWall to the current firmware (or an Upgraded Firmware) with Factory Default Settings.
3. Connect to the SonicWall with the following method and credentials.
   
   Generation 5 SonicWall or Generation 6 (SOHOW, TZ series) SonicWall
   Management Interface: X0.
   Local Device IP Address: 192.168.168.20.
   SonicWall Default IP Address: 192.168.168.168.
   Administration Credentials: admin | password.
   
   Generation 6 (NSA series) SonicWall
   Management Interface: MGMT.
   Local Device IP Address: 192.168.1.20.
   SonicWall Default IP Address: 192.168.1.254.
   Administration Credentials: admin | password.
   
   
4. Register the SonicWall by following the prompt in the upper right-hand corner of the GUI.
   

   CAUTION:  If you cannot register the SonicWall due to a DNS Error navigate to Network | DNS and set the SonicWall DNS for any public DNS Server (8.8.8.8 | 4.2.2.2).

5. Import the desired Settings File. When the SonicWall reboots it will still require the Credentials of admin | password, this can be changed by navigating to System | Administration.

Solution 2: Factory Default the SonicWall and Rebuild the Settings Manually

1.  Put the SonicWall into Safe Mode. If you're unsure how to do this, reference Entering Safe Mode from both the GUI and Command Line Interface.
2. Boot the SonicWall to the current firmware (or an Upgraded Firmware) with Factory Default Settings.
3. Connect to the SonicWall with the following method and credentials.
   
   Generation 5 SonicWall or Generation 6 (SOHOW, TZ series) SonicWall
   Management Interface: X0.
   Local Device IP Address: 192.168.168.20.
   SonicWall Default IP Address: 192.168.168.168.
   Administration Credentials: admin | password.
   
   Generation 6 (NSA series)  SonicWall
   Management Interface: MGMT.
   Local Device IP Address: 192.168.1.20.
   SonicWall Default IP Address: 192.168.1.254.
   Administration Credentials: admin | password.
   
   
4. Register the SonicWall by following the prompt in the upper right-hand corner of the GUI.
   

   CAUTION: If you cannot register the SonicWall due to a DNS Error navigate to Network | DNS and set the SonicWall DNS for any public DNS Server (8.8.8.8 | 4.2.2.2).
   Begin the process of configuring the SonicWall manually, as if it were new.