SSH on ESXi

Posted by : on

Category : esx   ssh   vmware


I’ve had to google this too many times. So I figure if I make it a post in my blog, I might retain the information.

  1. Go to the ESXi console and press alt+F1
  2. Type: unsupported
  3. Enter the root password(No prompt, typing is blindly)
  4. At the prompt type “vi /etc/inetd.conf
  5. Look for the line that starts with “#ssh” (you can search with pressing “/”)
  6. Remove the “#” (press the “x” if the cursor is on the character)
  7. Save “/etc/inetd.conf” by typing “:wq!
  8. Restart the management service “/sbin/services.sh restart

About Sam Aaron
Sam Aaron

Father, Husband, Geek. Workaholic.

Email : mail@micronauts.us

Website : http://micronauts.us

About Sam Aaron

Father. Husband. Geek. Workaholic. US Marine Corps Veteran.

Sam Aaron is a Senior Consultant in the Professional Services Organization for Entelligence, bringing over a decade of expertise in enterprise cloud automation and infrastructure. Sam has spent almost eleven years at VMware leading cloud automation initiatives using VCF Automation (formerly Aria Automation & vRA) and designing scalable, multi-tenant environments with VMware Cloud Director (vCD).

Sam holds multiple certifications including VCF-Architect 2024, VCIX-CMA, and dual VCPs (DCV & CMA), and is a recognized contributor to VMware’s certification exams. As a VMware Hands-On Lab (HOL) Captain and content author from 2015-2025, Sam played a key role in educating and mentoring the global VMware community. He helped to create and develop the automation challenge and troubleshooting labs for VMworld and global virtual forums.

When Sam is not working, he has several hobbies, among these are 3D printing Star Wars robots and turning them into animatronics.

Launched in April 2010, micronauts is Sam's online presence. Here, he has been blogging and sharing knowledge with the virtualization community. This blog acts as a central repository to retain the resolutions and other trivial knowledge that Sam has discovered.

** No information provided here was reviewed or endorsed by VMware by Broadcom, Microsoft, or anyone else for that matter. All information here are opinions based on Sam's personal experience. Use this knowledge at your own risk. **

Star
Useful Links