# Emergency Lockdown
Verkada access controllers can perform emergency lockdown events to help protect you, your colleagues, and your assets. During a lockdown event, all selected doors and/or buildings are locked down, and access to these doors is restricted to authorized user groups.
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* You must be an [Access Site Admin](https://help.verkada.com/access-control/getting-started/roles-and-permissions-for-access-control) to create a lockdown scenario for a site.
* Lockdown outputs and inputs require a lockdown scenario for the site where the controller is installed.
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## Create a lockdown scenario
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**In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Access.**
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**Select a site from the All Sites menu.**
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**Click Lockdowns, then click** :plus: **to create a new lockdown scenario.**
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**Follow the instructions in the configuration window to configure the lockdown scenario.**
a. Under **Create**, provide a name and emergency message for the lockdown scenario.\
b. Under **Doors**, select doors from the site(s) that will lock down when the lockdown scenario is triggered.\
c. Under **Permissions**, specify who is able to trigger the lockdown scenario, release the lockdown scenario, or unlock doors during the lockdown scenario.
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If multiple sites are assigned to a lockdown scenario:
* If a user is not an [Access Site Admin](https://help.verkada.com/access-control/getting-started/roles-and-permissions-for-access-control) for all the sites in the scenario, they can only add or remove doors from the sites where they have admin permissions.
* If an [AUX input](https://help.verkada.com/access-control/configuration/configure-the-ax11-io-controller/configure-an-aux-output-on-an-access-controller) is configured to trigger the lockdown scenario, a user must be an [Access Site Admin](https://help.verkada.com/access-control/getting-started/roles-and-permissions-for-access-control) for **all** assigned sites to edit or delete the AUX input configuration.
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## Clone a lockdown scenario
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**In Command, go to All Products > Access.**
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**Select a site from the All Sites menu.**
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**Click Lockdowns, then select a lockdown.**
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**At the top right, click Clone.**
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**Select a site to clone to and click Next.**
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**Follow the configuration window to configure the lockdown scenario and make changes.**
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## Initiate a lockdown from Command
Once a lockdown scenario has been created, you will see a new **Lockdown** icon at the bottom left of your navigation bar.
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**At the bottom of your navigation bar, click Lockdowns.**
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**Select the lockdown to initiate.**
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**Click Activate to begin the lockdown.**
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Lockdowns can also be triggered remotely from the [Verkada Pass App](https://help.verkada.com/access-control/users-and-credentials/verkada-pass-app).
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## Configure an AUX input to initiate a lockdown locally
Once a lockdown scenario has been created, you can configure an AUX input on an access controller to trigger the lockdown scenario when the AUX input is activated.
{% stepper %}
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**In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Access.**
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**Under Controllers, select the access controller where you want to set up an AUX input.**
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**From the access controller’s details page, click Add and select AUX Input.**
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**Under Settings:**
a. Enter a unique name.\
b. Select the desired name, port, and connection type.\
c. Click **Next**.
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**Under Actions:**
a. Select **Lockdown Trigger** as the **Input Type**.\
b. Select the **Lockdown Scenario** that you want to trigger when the AUX input is activated.
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**Click Done.**
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{% hint style="warning" %}
If an AUX input is configured to trigger a Lockdown Scenario that includes doors on other access controllers, the AUX input’s access controller will establish a local connection with the other access controllers through the local area network (LAN).\
\
When the AUX input is activated, the local connection(s) will lock down all doors in the lockdown scenario through the local network. For more details, see [Cross-Device Local Connection for Access Control](https://help.verkada.com/access-control/integrations-and-alerts/create-a-person-of-interest-from-an-access-user/cross-device-local-connections-for-access-control).
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## Release a lockdown from Command
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**Log in to Command.**
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**Click Release Lockdown on the red banner at the top of the page.**
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**Click Confirm.**
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Lockdowns can also be released remotely from the [Verkada Pass App](https://help.verkada.com/access-control/users-and-credentials/verkada-pass-app).
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***
{% hint style="info" %}
**Prefer to see it in action?** Check out the [video tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQMEbHMQO4k).
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