VMware ESXi – Enable SSH

SSH access is not enabled, by default, in VMwae ESXi 4.

To enable SSH:

1. Go to the ESXi console and press alt+F1, note: you will need to do this on your physical server.
2. Type: unsupported, press enter.
3. Enter the root password, press enter.
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 your ESXi server: reboot

Note: If your trying to find the location of your virtual machines do a global find using: #find . -name ‘*.vmdk’