Reset the administrator@vsphere.local password

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http://vinfrastructure.it/2014/05/reset-the-vmware-sso-password/

VMware Single Sign On is a new VMware vCenter Server components, introduced for the first time in vSphere 5.1, that manage the authentication across different VMware components both for services and users.

It is not just an authentication broker but also a security token exchange providing a more secure way of accessing your vSphere solutions. For more information see also: vCenter Single Sign-On Part 1: what is vCenter Single Sign-On?

This also mean that if you forget the SSO admin password you may have some trouble in your environment.

 

But in this case there is also a simple solution provided by this KB: Unlocking and resetting the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password (2034608)

Due to the changes in SSO between 5.1 and 5.5 there are two different procedures for each version.

For vCenter Single Sign-On 5.1

To reset the admin@system-domain password on a Windows server:

  1. Login as an administrator to the vCenter SSO server.
  2. Click Start > Run, type cmd, and click OK. The Command Prompt window opens.
  3. Navigate to the directory SSOInstallDirectory\utils. By default, the installation directory is  C:\ProgramFiles\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\utils.
  4. Run this command:rsautil reset-admin-password
  5. Enter the master password when prompted.Note: This is the password selected for the SSO administrator during the SSO installation. If you have changed your SSO administrator password later, the master password is still the original one chosen.If the command fails to prompt for the master password, use this command that includes all switches:rsautil reset-admin-password –master-pwd master_password –admin-name admin –admin-pwd new_password
  6. Enter the SSO administrator name for which you want to reset the password. For example, admin.
  7. Enter the new password for the user and then confirm it a second time. Ensure that the new password is compliant with VMware’s list of unsupported character. For more information, see vSphere 5.1 Single Sign On (SSO) installation fails with error: Error 29133. Administrator login error. (2035820).You should see the message: Password reset successfully.

To reset the admin@system-domain password on the vCenter Server Appliance:

  1. Log in as root to the vCenter server Appliance.
  2. From the command line, navigate to /usr/lib/vmware-sso/utils directory.
  3. Run this command:./rsautil reset-admin-password
  4. Enter the master password when prompted.Note: By default, this is the root password.
  5. Enter the SSO administrator name for which you want to reset the password. For example, admin.
  6. Enter the new password for the user and then confirm it a second time. Ensure that the new password is compliant with VMware’s list of unsupported character. For more information, see vSphere 5.1 Single Sign On (SSO) installation fails with error: Error 29133. Administrator login error. (2035820).You should see the message Password reset successfully.

For vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5

To reset the administrator@vsphere.local password on a Windows server:

  1. Log in to the vCenter Server with a domain administrator account. If vCenter Single Sign-On is installed separate from the vCenter Server, log into the vCenter Single Sign-On server.
  2. Open an elevated command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
  3. Navigate to the vmdird directory with this command:c:\>cd Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VMware\CIS\vmdird
  4. Open the vdcadmintool service tool with this command:c:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VMware\CIS\vmdird>vdcadmintool.exeThis console loads:===============================
    Please select:
    0. exit
    1. Test LDAP connectivity
    2. Force start replication cycle
    3. Reset account password
    4. Set log level and mask
    5. Set vmdir state
    ===============================
  5. Press 3 to enter the Reset account password option.
  6. When prompted for the Account DN, enter:cn=Administrator,cn=users,dc=vSphere,dc=localA new password is now generated.
    1. Use the newly generated password to log in to the administrator@vSphere.local account.Note: If the generated password contains an exclamation mark (!), perform the regeneration process a second time.
    2. After the password is regenerated, log in to the vSphere Web Client and change the password to be compliant with VMware’s list of unsupported character. For more information, see vSphere 5.5 Single Sign-On administrator@vsphere.local password issues (2060637).

To reset the administrator@vsphere.local password on the vCenter Server Appliance:

  1. Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance via SSH. For more information, see Enable or Disable SSH Administrator Login on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance section in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.
  2. Open the vdcadmintool service tool with this command:/usr/lib/vmware-vmdir/bin/vdcadmintoolThis console loads:================================
    Please select:
    0. exit
    1. Test LDAP connectivity
    2. Force start replication cycle
    3. Reset account password
    4. Set log level and mask
    5. Set vmdir state
    ================================
  3. Press 3 to enter the Reset account password option.
  4. When prompted for the Account DN, enter:cn=Administrator,cn=users,dc=vSphere,dc=localA new password is generated.
  5. Use the generated password to log in to the administrator@vSphere.local account.Note: If the generated password contains an exclamation mark (!), perform the regeneration process a second time.
  6. After the password is regenerated, log in to the vSphere Web Client and change the password to be compliant with VMware’s list of unsupported character. For more information, see vSphere 5.5 Single Sign-On administrator@vsphere.local password issues (2060637).