How to Enable SSH in ESXi – VMware
June 10, 2009 2 Comments
By default you cannot SSH in VMware ESXi. Follow the steps below to enable SSH on ESXi
1. On ESXi server’s administration window where you see <F2> Configure and <F12> Shutdown/Restart options, prese ALT+F1 to enter into CLI mode
2. type unsupported then enter.
3. on password type unsupported (if you haven’t set any password otherwise use the one which you have set) hit enter
4. Now on CLI prompt go to directory /etc
# cd /etc
5. Open config file called inetd.conf and go to the line where it show #SSH, remove # then save this file and exit
# vi inetd.conf
6. Run following command
# ps -a | grep inetd
7. which shows process id 1234 (this process id would be different for each server)
8. Kill that process
# kill 1234
9. Run inetd command
#inetd
Open SSH and login to your ESXi server.
Cheers
Sh
Reference
Heres a graphical walkthrough http://www.petenetlive.com/KB/Article/0000299.htm
great i did it on production environment and everything goes fine