Question

VMWARE ESX 3.5 how can i reset the root password with out rebooting it

Asked by: kaos_theory

http://lewaness.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/esx-35-server-lost-root-password-reset/

this is what i am looking at but do i have to reboot this ? is there another way ? to do it without reboot? I have lost the root password

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Asked On
2009-07-31 at 10:53:14ID24617470
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ESX VMWARE

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VMware

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Answers

 

by: paulsolovPosted on 2009-07-31 at 10:57:26ID: 24990982

you will need to reboot, this is only if you lost the password.

If you didn't lose the password you can use the VI Client to log into the ESX host directly and go to Groups/Users and reset the password on the fly

 

by: kaos_theoryPosted on 2009-07-31 at 11:13:44ID: 24991110

yeah i lost the password so the only way to to reboot ?

there is not any other option?

 

by: paulsolovPosted on 2009-07-31 at 11:24:55ID: 24991189

Not for a lost password there's not.  

 

by: dnilsonPosted on 2009-07-31 at 13:43:42ID: 24992300

Are you certain you need to restore the root password on the host machine, or just the password used for the VI center?

Often these are both root, but as you would imagine, the root account if used to login to to VI is actually a windows account whcih can be reset via the normal means.

The grub backdoor into single user mode is the most widely accepted means of gaining root access to a physical server, but its by no means the only way.  Butit requres you to be in single user mode, not multi (which is what the running guest require).  Mind you if your previous admin is any good, he SHOULD have closed the Grub hole anyway, so maybe it works maybe not.

If thats closed, you are going to need to use a live CD to mount linux and change the passwd file.

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