It looks strange, but after changing the "root" password I cannot login anymore. I followed exactly the process according to Vsphere 5.5 reset root and I used copy-and-paste for the password but strangely it always says invalid password ?
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Have you tried logging in with the old password? I haven't used ESXi in awhile, but I do recall a situation where one system (not ESXi) required a reboot for root password changes to take affect. Maybe the same here? shrug Not sure, but easy to test.– 0xSheepdogMay 30, 2014 at 18:55
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When does it says invalid password? When trying to log in with ESXi shell?– ChrisMay 30, 2014 at 18:58
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I get invalid login or password message when tring to log in with "VMware vSphere Client". Previous password was default password (empty), it doesn't work either.– db_chMay 30, 2014 at 19:03
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My password is 32 characters long, is it maybe too long ?– db_chMay 30, 2014 at 19:04
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This KB explains password policies, and you should try to log in directly in ESXi shell to see if you get the same problem.– ChrisMay 30, 2014 at 19:07
2 Answers
OK the problem is a bug in VMWare ESXi 5.5 : If you change a password to something longer than 30 characters it will not complain but your password will be changed anyway to only the first 30 chars of the provided password ! To be able to login again, you have to use the first 30 chars of your password.
Possibly related. In esxi 6, changing the root password in the Vsphere client did not seem to properly take effect. I could no longer log into vsphere, but could still log into the machine console with the old password. Restarting all the management agents seemed to bring everything into line again.
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What you encountered was a special protection. After 3 retries there's a timeout, which increases with each try after that. Simply letting it like that and using the correct password after some time will work.– OvermindJan 27, 2020 at 8:37