HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

In my previous 24 VMware Articles, most featured Intermediate VMware Topics. My next series of articles will concentrate on topics for the VMware Novice; this is the fifth article in this series.

If you would like to read the other articles in this series,  they are listed here for your convenience.

HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

HOW TO: Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client

HOW TO: Create an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image (*.iso), and MD5 checksum signature, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

HOW TO: Upload an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

In this series of basic VMware articles for the Novice, I'll be showing you the basic VMware skills required to install, configure and deploy virtual machines using VMware's FREE VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi).

In this article we will show you HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) so you can remotely connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) server remotely via SSH (PuTTY).

1. Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) or vSphere vCenter Server using the vSphere Client

Please refer to my EE article on HOW TO: Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client
Once connected to the "default hypervisor home page", click the Inventory icon, to see the server's Inventory.
Click the Configuration Tab.
Click Security Profile, followed by Properties
The Security Service Properties will be displayed.
Click the SSH label followed by Options button, you will notice the daemon service is currently stopped, this is the default.
The SSH (TSM-SSH) Options will be displayed. Click Start to start the SSH deamon. You can change the options here if you wish to Start and stop the SSH daemon service with the host, or Start automatically if any ports are open, and stop when all ports are closed. Check with your Security IT Policy which is best for you. Opening SSH ports long term can be considered a security risk.
You will notice the SSH Daemon Status has changed to Running
. Click OK to continue, and Click OK to return to Inventory.

Confirm using PuTTY, you can connect to the server successfully.

In vSphere 4 1, 5.0 and 5.1, when you have enabled Remote SSH management of hosts from the vSphere Client, you may notice that that a Configuration Issues warning yellow box appears on the Summary page of the host ESXi server.
This Configuration Issues warning yellow box only appears when Remote SSH and/or ESXi shell has been enabled.

Please refer to my EE Article on HOW TO: Suppress Configuration Issues and Warnings Alert displayed in Summary status for ESXi 4.1 U2 or ESXi 5.0 after enabling SSH or ESXi Shell

Congratulations, you have successfully Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

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