Reset ESXi 5 / ESXi 6 Root Password - EASY!

HD Video tutorial on resetting your ESXi 5 password, this also works on version 4 and 3.5.

This method should also work on ESXi 6

[Rnon]

This is my history: We have 5 vm's running in two 5.5 esxi. I've been telling the "high table" we need to update since before Flash Player demise but they dont want to risk too much downtime. So, a couple of months ago the "wrong username or password" hit us. We still can access the vm's with remote desktop and I warn them that all we need to hell breaks loose was a power outage and the geneterator not kicking in on time before the UPS runs out of juice. So a faulty fuel hoose was the reason the generator fails to start this summer. They fix it in about an hour but the UPS only lasts 30-40 minutes. All these happens past friday and with me on vacation. Your video totally save the day.

[cmpgk]

Thank you for the tutorial... this worked great! I used GRML-live, which is CLI, with no issues. One thing to remember for anyone else following these instructions, if you have an existing ESXi, you need to change the shadow fiile in both sda5 and sda6 (for me).

[giopaino]

Worked on ESXi 6.0
Thank you... Saved me a lot of time from reinstalling the whole host

[rizzpro]

Had to come back here for something quick and noticed the video was exactly 13:37 seconds long. Perfect.

[iraqigeek]

Thank you!
You just saved me hours of work on an ESXi 5.1 server I have :)

[mushtor]

On an ESXI 5.5 had to mount the /dev/sda6 and it worked.
I had also a /dev/sda5 who had a shadow file but even if i made all the modification on this partition it didn't work.
Only after a few searchs i found that the /dev/sda6 had also a shadow file and it worked!
Hope it could help.
Thanks a lot for the video, it saved me yesterday!

[anthonyosula]

Awesome - I did't want to have to reload with CD because I hear that will make your VMs grayed out. (Esxi 5.1)
Thanks!! worked like a charm.

[donqd]

This video is very useful, thank you. For those people having issues, you need to make sure that you are selecting the correct sda, specially if you have multiple accounts in the system. 

[ArGer]

This also work on 5.5. Thanks man! Realy help to me.

[bwsdark]

Thanks a lot, you really help me up on this.

[idsandmos]

Worked perfectly on ESXi 4.0.0 Build 392990. Your AWESOME!!

[isaacyotuber]

Gracias Amigo me salvastes de una amanecida, yo manejo servidores virtuales, y hubo un apagon en la empresa y luego de eso quise entrar al ESXi 6.5.0 y no me cojia el password por mas que intente nunca cojio. Pero gracias a tu video pude resetear esa contraseña y logre entrar. Saludos desde Ecuador

[GregHales]

Thank you so much!!! this was a life saver!

[emrahciftcibasi]

yes, this method really works for ESXi 5.5.. Thanks.

[roger-taylor]

Awesome vid..helped me right out in a sticky situation...thanks a lot👌🏻👌🏻

[kashifahmed]

Its working. Thanks for sharing Video. Best and safest technique. I tried ESXI 5.1 and its working successfully.

[rizzpro]

GOD DAMN dude. I cannot even begin to explain how much this helped. Angry ex-employee tried to fuck our systems up. This is so dirty it's awesome. Makes me a little nervous though :) Thanks again.

[txdozer]

Great video, worked like a charm.  Thank you very much

[martinbalaz]

You are safe my life . Great job. Thank you.

[faizalparinduri]

Thank you for the help bro, it helps me a lot. it works on ESXi 5.5 too. Cheers yeeeiiiyyy...