mm6
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-27-2010 08:34 AM

customization of Linux root password

Is there anything in the API for customizing the root password in a Linux vm the same way the Windows admin password can be set?

Reply
0 Kudos
lamw
Community Manager
Community Manager
‎01-27-2010 12:08 PM

Unfortunately this is not possible with what is available in Linux prep, Linux/UNIX guestOSes is 2nd to Windows in VMware's world and hopefully this will change sooner than later Smiley Sad

What you can do as a work around if you have or plan on installing VMware Tools when the guest is provisioned is to have a default password and then use something like VMware VIX API to change the password or upload a new password hash. It's not ideal but that's as automated as you can get today or by default provision your host with the proper password.

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

Twitter: @lamw

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

VMware Developer Comuunity

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

View solution in original post

Reply
0 Kudos
mm6
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-27-2010 12:27 PM

Thanks for the reply. I will look into that.

Reply
0 Kudos
tasoss
Contributor
Contributor
‎08-20-2013 02:14 AM

After almost 3 years is there a better solution provided by vmware?

I need to set the password after the creation of a new vm from a template.

Reply
0 Kudos
narcissujsk
Contributor
Contributor
‎05-11-2017 06:29 PM

After another   4 years is there a better solution provided by vmware?

Reply
0 Kudos
jasper9890
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎01-17-2019 06:46 PM

2019, no improvement? Smiley Happy

Reply
0 Kudos
Damonysq
Contributor
Contributor
‎06-06-2022 01:15 AM

2022.06.06 no improvement????????????????????????????????????
Reply
0 Kudos
JamesCurtis
Contributor
Contributor
‎02-16-2023 04:40 AM

Any news? Can only use cloud-init ?

Reply
0 Kudos
jc0326
Contributor
Contributor
‎05-02-2023 03:30 PM

I have used the following Postcustomization script. Which creates a random password sends it password to the guestinfo variable and makes the user reset it upon login.

#!/bin/bash

log=/var/log/cust_output.log
if [[ "x${1}" = "xprecustomization" ]]; then
password=$(openssl rand -base64 12)
echo "root:$password" | chpasswd
vmtoolsd --cmd "info-set guestinfo.custom.password $password"
passwd --expire root
elif [[ "x${1}" = "xpostcustomization" ]]; then
echo "customization complete..." >> ${log}
fi

Reply
0 Kudos