ESXi 8.0 update 2 root passwords expired

[Tadele Dekero]

Dear all;

I have been facing a challenge in resetting or recovering an expired root password, and I have ESXi version 8.0 update 2. Fortunately, I was able to enable SSH but not shell. The vCenter Server did not manage it. And i was trying to recover by using this procedure "Recovering ESXi 7.x & 8.x host after forgetting or losing root password" by WilliamLam, but still couldn't work for me. If anyone could provide a solution, I would greatly appreciate it.

Here is the snippet:

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Tadele Alemayehu Dekero
Sr. System Engineer, Cloud and Core Systems
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[a_p_]

Not sure whether I understand it correctly. Is the ESXi hosts managed by vCenter Server, or is it a standalone host?

In case it is managed by vCenter Server, then KB Article: 376979 may help.

André

[Tadele Dekero]

Dear Andre, 

Thank you for your response. It is a standalone machine.

Dear Andre, I have prepared another ESXi standalone machine to test the upgrade to the 8.0.3b version and then reinstall the ESXi OS with the datastore preservation option enabled. After reinstalling, I will join the new machine with the vCenter server and register the VM. I found this procedure somehow simple and efficient. 

But still I am curious that William 's procedure is an alternative option

Thank you again for everything!

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Tadele Alemayehu Dekero
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