How To Enable ESXi SSH Access

The following instructions will allow you to enable root ssh access to an ESXi server:

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

ESXi 5.0 and ESXi 5.1

1. From the DCUI (Direct Console User Interface), press "[F2]" and login.

2. Navigate down to "Troubleshooting Options", and press enter.

3. Navigate down to "Enable SSH" and press enter.

4. To disable the configuration warning "Configuration Issues: SSH for the host has been enabled" in the vSphere Client, change the following:

• Configuration -> Software (section) -> Advanced Settings -> UserVars -> SuppressShellWarning = 0

ESXi 4.1

1. From the DCUI (Direct Console User Interface), press "[F2]" and login.

2. Navigate down to "Troubleshooting Options", and press enter.

3. Navigate down to "Enable Remote Tech Support (SSH)" and press enter.

ESXi 4.0

1. From the DCUI (Direct Console User Interface), switch to the hidden shell login screen with "[Alt]+[F1]".

2.  Type in "unsupported" (the characters will not be echoed back) and press enter.  Now enter in the root user's password and press enter.

3. Edit /etc/inetd.conf and uncomment the "ssh stream tcp" line:

esx# vi /etc/inetd.conf
ssh  stream tcp nowait root /sbin/dropbearmulti dropbear  ...

4. Reboot the server:

esx# reboot

ESX 4.1 and ESX 4.0

1. From the terminal screen, switch to the shell login screen with "[Alt]+[F1]" and login as root.

2. Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and change the 'PermitRootLogin' line to allow root login:

esx# vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
PermitRootLogin yes

3. Restart the SSH service:

esx# service sshd restart