Changing a forgotten root password on an ESX host

Details
This article provides steps to reset the root password of an ESX host.

Note: This article does not pertain to ESXi. Reinstalling is the only way to reset a root password on
ESXi.
Solution
Note: In some cases a defective keyboard can cause problems logging into ESX. You might want to
test with a different physical keyboard if you are having difficulties with known login credentials.

If you have forgotten or do not know the password for the root user on an ESX host, you can
change it without reinstalling ESX.

Warning: This can be used maliciously and should be safeguarded against through proper physical
access to the host, authenticated remote console access, monitoring and protection against reboot
procedures (e.g. grub password) and limited access to the management network.

For more information on security best practices, see
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/726.

Note: The procedure below performs a password reset. It "blindly" replaces the existing root
password with a new one. This is not password recovery. That is, it does not allow you to learn the
original root password. VMware does not provide tools or methods to recover the original root
password of an ESX host.

To change the password for the root user, you must reboot the ESX host into service console only
in single-user mode. To do this, follow the steps below appropriate for your version of ESX.
ESX 3.x and 4.x
1. Reboot the ESX host.
2. When the GRUB screen appears, press the space bar to stop the server from
automatically booting into VMware ESX.
3. Use the arrow keys to select Service Console only (troubleshooting mode).
4. Press the a key to modify the kernel arguments (boot options).
5. On the line presented, type a space followed by the word single.
6. Press Enter. The server continues to boot into single-user mode.
7. When presented with a bash prompt such as sh-2.05b#, type the command passwd and
press Enter.
8. Follow the prompts to set a new root user password.
9. When the password is changed successfully, reboot the host using the command reboot
and allow VMware ESX to boot normally.


ESX Server 2.x
1. Reboot the ESX Host.
2. When the LILO screen appears, press the space bar to stop the server from automatically
booting into VMware ESX.
3. At the LILO prompt select linux, adding the -s to the end of the line. For example: linux
-s.
4. Press Enter. The system begins to boot. The server continues to boot into single-user
mode.
5. When presented with a bash prompt such as sh-2.05b#, type the command passwd and
press Enter.
6. Follow the prompts to set a new root user password.
7. When the password is changed successfully, reboot the host using the command reboot
and allow VMware ESX to boot normally.
When the system is finished booting up, you can log in as the root user using the new password.