Changing ESXi Passwords via Host Profiles

I recently had an issue where I couldnt get into one of my ESXi Servers as I did not know the Password. I could get into vCenter and so forced a reset of all root user password via Host Profiles.

In vCenter, select Home > Host Profiles

Select Extract profile from a host..

Select one of your Hosts

Give the Host Profile a name – I used reset-esxi-root-password

Now, select the Host Profile, select Actions and Edit Settings..

Select your Profile and click Next

To Change Root Password, the only section that needs to be selected is: Security and Services > Security Settings > Security > User Configuration > root

Select Fixed password configuration from the Password dropdown

Enter and Confirm Password > Click Finish

Ensure the Profile is selected and click Actions > Attach Hosts and Clusters

Select relevant Hosts or Clusters and use Attach to move them across

Select Finish on the Customize Hosts screen

Select Actions > Check Host Profile Compliance

We can see we have 2 Hosts in Non-Compliance

Go to Actions > Remidiate

Select the Hosts you want to remediate and click Next (This is my lab so I can do these at the same time)

Select Pre-Check Remediation

I have Reboot hosts which require it ticked and select Finish

I can now log into my ESXI Hosts with the new Password