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To change the ESXi root password when ESXi host managed by VCD




Recently we got into the issue where I have to change the ESXi host root password which was managed by the vCloud Director.

Changing the root password directly from the ESXi host is not recommended when the ESXi host is managed by vCloud Director. All operation task need to be accomplish through vCD.

NOTE: The test was done on both the ESXi hosts in maintenance mode from VCD and with taking them in to maintenance mode. Since you are performing the ESXi root password change I would suggest to  perform during maintenance mode.

Steps performed to change the root password of the ESXi host.

Step 1) Enable or Disable an ESX/ESXi Host:

You can disable a host to prevent vApps from starting up on the host. Virtual machines that are already running on the host are not affected.

- To perform maintenance on a host, migrate all vApps off of the host or stop all vApps and then disable the host.

Procedure:

1. Click the Manage & Monitor tab and click Hosts in the left pane.
2. Right-click the host name and select Enable Host or Disable Host.

vCloud Director enables or disables the host for all provider virtual datacenters that use its resources.

Step 2) Move Virtual Machines from one ESX/ESXi Host to Another

You can move all the virtual machines from one ESX/ESXi host to other hosts in the same cluster. This ability is useful to unprepare a host, or to perform maintenance on a host without affecting running virtual machines.

Prerequisites:

Disable the host (As mentioned in Step 1)

Procedure:

1.  Click the Manage & Monitor tab and click Hosts in the left pane.
2. Right-click the host name and select Redeploy all VMs.
3. Click Yes.

vCloud Director puts the host into maintenance mode and moves all of its virtual machines to other hosts in the same cluster.

Step 3) Change the root password of the corresponding ESXi host.

Step 4) Prepare the host and then enable the host back in VCD environment.

If you notice any HOST which has issue with the agent communication (As observed during our test), please repair the appropriate HOST:

Repair a Provider Virtual Datacenter ESX/ESXi Host:

Procedure:

1. Click the Manage & Monitor tab and click Provider VDCs in the left pane.
2. Right-click the provider virtual datacenter name and select Open.
3. Click the Hosts tab.
4. Right-click the host name and select Repair Host.
NOTE: vCloud Director repairs the host. This operation affects all provider virtual datacenters that use the host.

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