Reset ESXi Root Password with Host Profile

[ismuadmin]

Hello,

I need to recover root password of  one of the esxi hosts. The kb https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/68079 says the feature is only available on enterprise plus licence. I have enterprise 6.7 licence not plus. But still I can see host profile links on vcenter menu, Home>Policies and Profiles > Host Profiles. Does it mean i can either use the function above ?

[ptarnawski]

Hey @ismuadmin ,

It will not work. You have a host profile option for other functions then reset the password.

For you, the option is to re-install ESXi. Do not worry, you won't lose your VMs, there is an option to re-install ESXi and preserve VMFS datastore.

My blog: AngryAdmin Twitter: @AngrySysOps Youtube: @AngryAdmin

[a_p_]

One option to reset/set a host's root password in a vCenter Server managed environment is https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reset-esxi-root-password-through-vcenter-esxcli-method-buschhaus/

André

[ptarnawski]

@a_p_This is not supported!

Have you tried it on vSphere 7?

[a_p_]

I am not aware that this is not supported. Do you have a reference for that?

André

[ptarnawski]

@a_p_ ,

If you open this KB:  https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/68079

and pay attention to this paragraph under Resolution:

NOTE: Host profiles are a feature available on VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus license only. For more information refer to vSphere Host Profiles
Any other method is unsupported and reinstalling the ESXi host is the only supported way to reset a password on ESXi.

My blog: AngryAdmin   Twitter: @AngrySysOps   Youtube: @AngryAdmin