Enabling root SSH login on an ESX host

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/8375637
...because it's disabled out of the box.


To create a user in ESX host for using a SSH client:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client as a root user.
2. Click Users & Groups.
3. Right-click on a blank area and click Add.
4. Enter a username and password. Confirm your password.
   Note: Starting in ESX 4.0, the password needs to be at least 8 characters in length.
   
5. Select Grant shell access to this user.
6. Select root group from the dropdown and click Add > OK.
   
   Note: By default it assigns to the users group and does not allow SSH access.

After you are logged in SSH session, switch to the root user with the command:
su -

Edit the configuration file for SSH with the command:

nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Find the line that starts with PermitRootLogin and change the no to yes. You can find this line about 2 pages down from the top.

Save the file by first pressing Ctrl-O and then Enter. Exit with Ctrl-X. Restart the sshd service with the command:

service sshd restart

... or alternatively, use the command:

/etc/init.d/sshd restart