How to Reset GUI password of checkpoint firewall device model V-80

[Urvakhan]

Hi everyone, Please receive my greetings and well wishes. I must say I’m very happy I came across this platform where I see everybody trying to help whenever there is an issue with any checkpoint product or service. Honestly, I have much to say and will try to compress it as much as possible hoping this is the right place to post what I have to say.

N:B

(I Posted this same issue in another room but I have the impression many people are not able to see it so I'm posting it here too)

Here is my story with Checkpoint…

I had just been recruited by a company as the IT support and for the first time in my life, I saw a black device written on it Check Point SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES LTD. I did some research and now understand this device is our firewall. I don’t really have a strong background in networking and security but all I have is that burning anxiety to keep learning everything I can. I’m a self-thought IT technician and I keep learning every day.

THE PROBLEM

I have been asked to get into the checkpoint and block social media access for the company but the big issue is that, the formal IT support separated in bad terms with the company and now he has completely refused to give me the password of the web access and he has gone invisible and no one in the company is able nor willing to even contact him. I don’t even know where to start with this device and I want to take this as an opportunity to learn something new and big. I really need your help, please.

THE CHECKPOINT DEVICE

This is all I know about this device. It is black in color and almost has the size of a small digital receiver or access point. The model written under the device is V-80. Behind the device from left to right, It has;

- a USB 3.0 port,

- four (4) and One (1) Ethernet port (5 ETH ports in total),

- a WAN port,

- a console port directly beneath the power button,

- a Power DC 12v port and a FACTORY DEFAULT hole.

There is the serial number and the MAC written beneath the model and when I scan the network, the name beside the device's IP address is QUANTUM SPARK SECURITY APPLIANCE. ( I’ve equally attached some images of our checkpoint device)

I don’t even know where to start nor what to do but I’m really determined to learn and closely follow all the steps you’ll all give me here. I could just press the DEFAULT FACTORY but I’m asking myself what happens next? If I do that what about the configurations and all the rest?

While waiting for your valued contributions in solving this issue, Thanks a lot for your time and consideration.

ATTACHMENTS: Images of the checkpoint device and login page

[G_W_Albrecht]

https://sc1.checkpoint.com/documents/Appliances/GSG_V0/EN/Content/Topics-V0/Introduction.htm

https://community.checkpoint.com/t5/custom/page/page-id/CommunityBeginnersChild?cat=6

[Urvakhan]

I will forever be grateful for the help you're providing in solving this issue. Thanks for the beginners' guide  I will study and master everything on there

[G_W_Albrecht]

If you send me the MAC in a private message i can check if it is licensed.

[PhoneBoy]

We added a password reset option in the most recent firmware if your administrator user is configured correctly.
Unfortunately, if this isn’t configured/available and you don’t know the password to get into the device, your only option is a Factory Reset.
This will reset the existing configuration.

[Urvakhan]

Thank you very much for your assistance this is helping me so much and I greatly appreciate it. I guess the only option I have left is a factory reset because I don't have any passwords, no licenses, or anything apart from physical access to the device itself inside our rack. I've been spending the whole day reading the guide for beginners but there are many things and terms I still don't understand.

Before doing the factory reset, I would like to know what are the most important things I should take into consideration and what information I need before and after doing this. I'm just trying to avoid a situation where the device might be useless after a factory reset maybe because I didn't back up something or do have a license. The only information I have is the device MAC addresse and the serial number all found on the sticker under the device. Thanks for everything

[PhoneBoy]

Most of what you need to know has nothing to do with the device itself.
It starts with understanding your network and what's connected to the device.
Starting with the WAN: what does it connect to and how does it get an IP address? (or is it static)
Same with the LAN: what devices are connected there, how do they get their IP addresses? (what is their IP/netmask)
In this case, the gateway could easily be the DHCP/DNS server, which will be reflected in the client IPs.
If there are other segments connected to the device (either via the DMZ port or they are routable through the LAN), these will need to be completely understood.

All of this will be required to configure the gateway once you Factory Reset to restore basic connectivity.
Beyond that, the appliance should get its license from UserCenter on factory reset OR you can use a 30-day eval (both options are available in the First Time Wizard).
The default configuration should allow outbound Internet access, even before you configure additional security rules.

[Urvakhan]

Hello Once more, hope everyone is doing great with the new month starting. I come back this time with much information about the checkpoint device I’ve been trying to factory reset. Truthfully, I almost gave up but realized I’m very close to winning this battle and I want to thank you all for your huge assistance with this. I greatly appreciate y’all helping with this.

So now I understand all what is connected to the device as follows…

We have 4 internet modems connected to the checkpoint device respectively on ports 1, 2, 3, and 4.

• The fifth port connects from the checkpoint to our D-link switch and the switch then shares the LAN to the rest of the computers.
• There is nothing connected to the WAN port of the checkpoint device.
• The Checkpoint has a static IP address and I think Our DHCP is also configured on the Checkpoint because when I power it off, all the computers will stop getting IP addresses until I power it on and, added to that, when I enter the ipconfig on command line, the default gateway of all the computers in our network is the Checkpoint’s IP address.

That is practically all that’s connected to the checkpoint devices and I hope the information can help. While waiting for your advice and directions on what I need to do after I press the factory reset button, Thank y’all for your time and consideration. I will not give up again until I successfully reset and reconfigure this device. THANKS

[G_W_Albrecht]

After pressing the reset you will have to re-configure the complete device according to your topology.

[Urvakhan]

Thanks for the reply. Will that mean reconfiguring the DHCP only and re-attributing the static IP address to the checkpoint device and that will be all? or maybe there are some other key points I need to be careful about?

[PhoneBoy]

The fact you don’t have something connected to the WAN interface suggests you may be leveraging bridge mode.
That means you need to understand what’s physically connected to each LAN port and how traffic flows between them (if at all).

You’ll probably need to leverage a switch mirror port, a hub, or similar to see the traffic flowing in/out the LAN to see what IPs are used.