ESXi 4.1 server refuses root password after reboot!?

[steinooo]

Hi all,

I just rebooted my ESXi 4.1 server to add more discs, and it all rebooted lovely, with the config still intact (It had hostname and ip address still configured)

But........the root login will not work any longer! It refuses the password.

Has anyone seen this before or managed to login sucessfully?

I have tried root / null, and tried typing the password in the username field to ensure it looks correct and it does!

 

[steinooo]

nope! I logged in with it 1 minute before I rebooted and it worked fine! Nothing constructive then keep out

 

[steinooo]

How are you connecting to the server, SSH, Vsphere client?

Vsphere client but I am next to the server for local access too.

To the other reply - I did read something about a faulty keyboard, but I cannot verify this, I have tried connecting a few more keyboards and it still doesn't wwork

 

[steinooo]

The fact you've typed the password so it's visible should discount a keyboard issue.

I'm unsure on esxi 4.1, but if posible I would try logging in locally as root.
If it works, then you know the password is fine and it's some other strange issue.

It could be the VM services are an issue, so try restarting those from the troubleshooting options at the console.

Other than that I would go back to basics, checking network connectivity, ping responses etc.

I had console access locally so was trying all this locally and on the vSphere clinet on my laptop next to it.

Absolutely stumped so installed again wiping the datastore. A tech partner of my firm suggested something to do with a keyboard issue when building,
installed on AZERTY, and first logged in with QWERTY, I find it hard to believe tbh. I guess I will never know, but this is the SECOND TIME this has happened on the same server.


No thankfully it was not in production until tomoorrow, altho that means I have a lot more work to do tomorrow now!