How To Disable ESXi Password Restrictions

The following instructions will allow you to change the "root" user's password to something simple like "password".

• ESXi 5.0, ESXi 5.1 and ESXi 5.5
• ESXi 4.1
• ESXi 4.0
• ESX 4.1
• ESX 4.0

ESXi 5.0, ESXi 5.1 and ESXi 5.5

1. Edit /etc/pam.d/passwd and add "enforce=none" to the end of the "password   requisite" line:

esx# vi /etc/pam.d/passwd
password  requisite  /lib/security/$ISA/pam_passwdqc.so \
        retry=3 min=8,8,8,7,6 enforce=none

2. Change password:

esx# passwd

ESXi 4.1

1. Edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth and add "enforce=none" to the end of the "password   requisite" line:

esx# vi /etc/pam.d/system-auth
password  requisite  /lib/security/$ISA/pam_passwdqc.so \
        retry=3 min=8,8,8,7,6 enforce=none

Note: You will need to force the write with an exclamation ":wq!".

2. Change password:

esx# passwd

Note: The enforce setting will be lost on the next reboot, so change your password now.

ESXi 4.0

1. Edit /etc/pam.d/common-password and add "enforce=none" to the end of the "password   requisite" line:

esx# vi /etc/pam.d/common-password
password  requisite  /lib/security/$ISA/pam_passwdqc.so \
        retry=3 min=8,8,8,7,6 enforce=none

2. Change password:

esx# passwd

ESX 4.1

1. Edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth and add "enforce=none" to the end of the "password   required" line:

esx# vi /etc/pam.d/system-auth
password  required  /lib/security/$ISA/pam_passwdqc.so \
        min=8,8,8,7,6 similar=deny match=0 enforce=none

2. Change password:

esx# passwd

ESX 4.0

1. Edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth-generic and add "enforce=none" to the end of the "password   required" line:

esx# vi /etc/pam.d/system-auth-generic
password  required  /lib/security/$ISA/pam_passwdqc.so \
        min=8,8,8,7,6 similar=deny match=0 enforce=none

2. Change password:

esx# passwd