Restoring the Kerio Control default configuration using a USB flash drive

Kerio Technologies provides a set of tools for solutions for situations in which it is not possible to connect to Kerio Control on a network and administer it through the Kerio Control Administration web interface.

These tools are designed to run from a USB flash drive.

You need a flash drive with the capacity of at least 1 GB to run the tools. For restoring the default configuration, 256 MB suffice.

We recommend using these tools for Kerio Control Box and Kerio ControlSoftware ApplianceA special operating system designed to run on a computer.. In this article, Kerio Control refers to Kerio Control Box or Kerio Control Software Appliance.

Should any issues arise (for example, if Kerio Control fails to work even after you perform a complete system recovery) contact our technical support.

Restoring the default configuration

The factory settings of Kerio Control can be recovered with the file kerio-control-factory-reset.

Factory settings recovery includes removal of all configuration data including activation and the statistics database.

This USB tool is designed for a single use. An operation does not repeat if you restart with the flash drive still in the USB port. Once you perform the operation unplug the flash drive.

  1. Insert a USB flash drive to your computer (256 MB or larger) into a USB port on your computer.
  2. Make sure that only one partition with file system FAT16 or FAT32 (VFAT ) is created on the flash drive. The USB drive must not be formatted by file system NTFS or ext2, ext3, or ext4.
  3. Save the kerio-control-factory-reset file to the flash drive.
  4. Switch off Kerio Control.
  5. Plug the USB flash drive into one of the USB ports of your Kerio Control.
  6. Switch on Kerio Control. Once Kerio Control boots, the box beeps once. Once the configuration is reset, the box beeps once.
  7. Kerio Control re-boots automatically and beeps once. Once Kerio Control is up, the box beeps three times.
  8. Install Kerio Control. For more information refer to Installing Kerio Control.

If the steps above do not work, try another flash drive. Different Kerio Control Box models require different USB drive formats:

  • Kerio Control Box 1110, 3110, 3120, and 3130 require a USB flash drive formatted like a floppy disk (not partitioned).
  • Kerio Control Box 1120 requires a flash drive formatted with a master boot record (MBR). USB drives with floppy-type formatting cannot connect to Kerio Control Box, but can be reconfigured to work. For more information refer to Formatting a USB flash drive with MBR.

Running a complete system recovery

Kerio Control can be completely recovered with the kerio-control-rescue file. In the system recovery, all configuration data, including activation and the statistics database, is completely rewritten. This means the device have to be reactivated and reconfigured for further use.

IMPORTANT

Before doing a complete system recovery, we recommend that you should first restore the factory settings and then retest the connection to Kerio Control.

Preparing a flash drive for system recovery

For complete system recovery, Kerio Control first needs to introduce the operating system from a USB drive. The kerio-control-rescue file is an image of an installation disk and must be saved directly on the physical device. Follow the instructions for your client system below.

NOTE

During the installation of the rescue tool, the box beeps several times:

When Kerio Control boots, the box beeps twice.

When Kerio Control Engine starts up, the box beeps three times.

Operating System Description
Microsoft Windows
  1. Insert the USB flash drive (at least 1 GB capacity) into a USB port on your computer.

IMPORTANT

All data on the flash drive will be completely overwritten, so be sure to save any files you need elsewhere.

  1. Download and unpack Image Writer (it does not require installation).
  2. Download the kerio-control-rescue file.
  3. In Image Writer, find the file, select your flash drive and click Write.
  4. Eject the flash drive securely and remove it from your computer.
Linux
  1. Insert the flash drive into a USB port on your computer.

IMPORTANT

All data on the flash drive will be completely overwritten, so be sure to save any files you need elsewhere.

  1. Download the kerio-control-rescue file.
  2. Run the terminal (console) in the super-user mode (e.g., using the su or sudo -s command — depending on your Linux distribution).
  3. Use the command fdisk -l to detect the USB flash drive name (e.g., /dev/sdx).
  4. Save the kerio-control-rescue file to the flash drive using this command: dd if=rescue.img of=/dev/sdx bs=1M. Replace rescue.img with the real file name and /dev/sdx with the actual device name. You must enter the physical device (e.g. /dev/sdx), not a partition (e.g. /dev/sdx1).
  5. Use the sync command to ensure all disk operations finish.
  6. Eject the USB drive safely and remove it from the USB port.
Mac OS X
  1. Insert the flash drive into a USB port on your computer.

IMPORTANT

All data on the flash drive will be completely overwritten, so be sure to save any files you need elsewhere.

  1. Download the kerio-control-rescue file.
  2. Run the terminal: Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
  3. Use the command sudo diskutil list to detect the USB flash drive name (e.g., /dev/diskX or /dev/DiskY). Note that this is case sensitive.
  4. Use the command sudo diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX to unmount the flash drive.
  5. Save the kerio-control-rescue file to the USB flash drive using this command: sudo dd if=rescue.img of=/dev/disk1 bs=1m. Replace rescue.img with the real file name and /dev/diskX with the actual device name.
  6. Eject the flash drive securely and remove it from your computer.

Kerio Control device system recovery

  1. Switch off Kerio Control.
  2. Plug the USB flash drive into one of the USB ports of your Kerio Control.
  3. Switch on Kerio Control. Wait for applying the kerio-control-rescue script.
  4. Kerio Control turns off after the factory reset finishes. Turn off Kerio Control Box 3110 and 3120 manually after some time (15 min) of inactivity.
  5. Switch on Kerio Control.
  6. Install Kerio Control. For more information refer to Installing Kerio Control.

Recovering the USB flash drive for further use

The recovery file creates partitions on the USB flash drive. To reuse the USB drive for other purposes, you need to remove all disk partitions, create one or more new partitions, and reformat the disk for your file system.

Operating System Description
Microsoft Windows
  1. Click Start and in the Search field enter cmd.exe to open the Command Prompt window.
  2. On the command line, enter diskpart. You may need to confirm that you have administration rights.
  3. Enter the command list disk to display the list of drives and look up the number of the physical USB drive.
  4. Enter the command select disk X (replace X with the number of the corresponding disk).
  5. Use the command clean to remove all partitions.
  6. Create a new disk partition by entering these commands in the order listed:

create partition primary

select partition 1

format fs=fat32 label="USB Flash" quick

exit

Linux

Use the graphical tool GParted or the command fdisk.

Mac OS X

Use the system tool Disk Utility: Application > Utilities > Disk Utility.

Formatting a USB flash drive with MBR

  1. Click Start and in the Search field enter cmd.exe to open the Command Prompt window.
  2. On the command line, enter diskpart. You may need to confirm that you have administration rights.
  3. Enter the command list disk to display the list of drives and look up the number of the physical USB drive.
  4. Enter the command select disk X (replace X with the number of the corresponding disk).
  5. Use the command clean to remove all partitions.
  6. Create a new disk partition by entering these commands in the order listed:

create partition primary

select partition 1

format fs=fat32 label="USB Flash" quick

exit