Enabling SSH on ESXi

SSH access to the console of an ESXi system is disabled by default as it is considered an ‘unsupported’ feature.  To enable it, there are just a few simple steps:

• At the ESXi console, hit ALT-F1 to change to the console window
• Type in the word ‘unsupported’ and enter.  You will not see anything echoed to the screen, so you just have to trust your typing skills.
• If you typed it correctly, you will be prompted with a Tech Support Mode warning and a password prompt.  Enter the root password to log in.
• Edit /etc/inetd.conf, and uncomment (remove the leading #) the line for ssh (the line begins with #ssh).  Save the file.
• Reload the inet process.  This can be done by either rebooting the system or executing kill -HUP <pid>, where <pid> is the process id for inetd.  This can be found via : ps -ef | grep inet