Return equipment from an evaluation

If you have decided to return your ExtraHop appliances from an evaluation (POC), this guide provides instructions on how to remove your data before you ship the appliances back. Optionally, you can send the appliances back with your data and ExtraHop will delete the data for you.

Before you can securely delete your data, you must first boot into the rescue media interface. Then, select from the options to perform a secure delete. After your data has been deleted, return the equipment according to the instructions in your return request letter.

Contact ExtraHop Operations if you have any questions about the return process.

Boot into the rescue media interface

Before you begin

Warning:The rescue media must have the same firmware version that is installed on the ExtraHop system, unless you plan to reset the appliance to factory defaults and upgrade to the latest firmware version. To upgrade to the latest firmware version, overwrite your rescue media USB drive with the latest rescue media version.
After you have installed the ExtraHop rescue media onto a USB drive, boot into the rescue media interface.
  1. Make sure that you have only one rescue media inserted into the ExtraHop appliance.
  2. Connect to the ExtraHop system from an ExtraHop console, serial port, or iDRAC.
  3. Restart the appliance through one of the methods listed below, in the following recommended order.
    • Log in to the Administration settings on the ExtraHop system through https://<extrahop-hostname-or-IP-address>/admin. In the Appliance Settings section, click Shutdown or Restart, and then click Shutdown.
    • Log in to the command-line interface with the shell user account, enable privileged commands, and then restart the system with the restart system command. It can take up to two minutes for the system to restart.
    • Press the power button once without holding, wait a few minutes for the system to shut down, and then press the power button again to restart the appliance.
    • Press and hold the power button until the appliance powers off. Then, press the power button again to restart the appliance.
      Important:Try this method only if the previous methods are unresponsive, as a forced reboot can cause data loss.
  4. When the system reboots, follow the instructions on the screen to access the Boot Manager (or press F11).
    The steps vary by the hardware manufacturing release. From the Boot Manager menu, select the option for the BIOS boot menu.
  5. Depending on your rescue media type, select to boot from either DVD ROM or USB.
    Important:Do not select to boot from the NIC, hard drive, or UEFI (EDA 1200 only).

Perform a secure delete of all system data

You can permanently remove all of the data and customizations from your ExtraHop appliance. Select this option if you plan on disconnecting the ExtraHop appliance and want to securely remove all of your data.

You can securely delete data from your appliance from the rescue media interface.
Important:The 1-pass wipe options can take up to 24 hours to complete; the 3-pass option can take several weeks.
  1. From the Select Menu Option screen, select Wipe/Reset Menu.
  2. Select one of the following options:
    • Select Run Secure Internal Wipe and select OK. This option erases only the internal drives in the appliance.
    • For ExtraHop packetstores with attached extended storage units (ESU), select Run Secure ESU Wipe, and then select OK. This option erases the drives only in attached ESUs.
  3. Select the wipe pattern from the following options:
    Option Description
    1-pass Quick Fill with 0x00 Writes zeros to every sector of every disk on the appliance.
    1-pass One Random Pass Writes random bits to every sector of every disk on the appliance.
    3-pass DoD 5220.22-M Writes random bits to every sector of every disk on the appliance, then writes zeros to every sector of every disk on the appliance, and then writes ones to every sector of every disk on the appliance. Finally, a verification pass is performed.
  4. Select OK and press ENTER.
The system reboots, initializes the system hardware, and then launches the ExtraHop firmware.
Last modified 2023-11-07