Category: vCenter

I just want to share two KB articles about the Admin account used in vCenter Operations Manager 5.x vApp. I had some trouble logging in as admin and these articles helped me solve the issue.

Automated lockout of the admin account in the vCenter Operations Manager 5.x vApp

 

Details

vCenter Operations Manager 5.x locks out the admin account on the vApp if you try to log in with incorrect credentials three times in a row.

Solution

Determine whether the admin account is locked out

1. Log in to the console of the UI VM as root user.
2. Run the following command twice: su admin.
   The admin account is locked if the console displays a message that reads Account locked due to XX failed login, where XX stands for the number of failed login attempts.
3. Repeat the above steps on the Analytics VM to check if the admin account there is locked out.

Unlock the admin account

1. Log in to the console of the UI VM as root user.
2. Run the following command: pam_tally --user admin --reset.
3. Repeat the above steps on the Analytics VM if the admin account there is locked out.

Disable the automated lockout for the admin account (optional)

1. Log in to the console of the UI VM as root user.
2. Remove or comment out the following line from file /etc/pam.d/common-auth:
   auth requisite pam_tally.so deny=3
3. Repeat the above steps on the Analytics VM to disable the lockout functionality there.
   Note: The admin account is unlocked automatically when you disable this functionality.

Source: KB2030185

Resetting user passwords in vCenter Operations Manager vApp

Details

This article describes how to reset passwords in vCenter Operations Manager 5.x. The procedure for the root user is different from the admin user. Both procedures are documented here.

Solution

Resetting the root user password

If you forget the root user password, you can reset this password by booting into single user mode.

To reset the root user password:

1. In the vSphere Client, power off both the UI and Analytics virtual machines.
2. Select the powered-off UI virtual machine, right-click it, and choose Open Console in the pop-up menu.
3. From the virtual machine console window, hit the green |> button to power on the UI virtual machine .
4. When the boot screen appears, quickly click inside the window and enter a space.
   The boot process halts and the countdown from 7 to 0 at the bottom of the screen clears.
   Note: You have only a few seconds to accomplish this step. If you do not halt the boot countdown, you have to start over.
5. Make sure the first line is selected (SUSE Linux Enterprise …), and press e.
   A boot parameters menu appears.
6. Go to the second line (beginning with “kernel /vmlinuz-….”), and press e again.
   You are dropped into a grub prompt, and the cursor is positioned at the end of the line.
7. Enter a space, followed by the parameter init=/bin/sh, and press Enter.
   The space and the parameter are appended to the line onscreen. Once you press Enter, you are returned to the previous boot parameters screen, with the kernel line highlighted.
8. Press b to boot.
   You see a short boot sequence, followed by a shell prompt.
   Note: This step overwrites the temporary changes made in Step 7, and all boot parameters revert to their previous values.
9. Run this command to reset the root user password:
   passwd
10. Repeat Steps 1-9 for the Analytics virtual machine.
    Note: Make sure that you enter the same new password for both the UI and the Analytics virtual machines.


Resetting the admin user password

If you forget the admin user password for vCenter Operations Manager, a script is available for you to re-set that password.

For the 5.0 version only, you must download and use the script attached to this document.

For vCenter Operations 5.0.1 and subsequent versions, the script will be available in the vApp.

To reset the admin password, follow these steps. If you are on a version later than 5.0, go to Step 3.

1. If you are on the 5.0 version, download and unzip the file resetadminpwd.zip to obtain the script fileresetadminpwd.sh.
2. Save resetadminpwd.sh on the UI virtual machine in the /usr/lib/vmware-vcops/user/conf/install folder.
3. Make the script executable.
   chmod 755 resetadminpwd.sh
4. As root, run the script resetadminpwd.sh on the UI virtual machine:
   ./resetadminpwd.sh new-password

Source: KB2013358