Reset forgotten vsphere root /esxi password

Testing using vSphere version 5.5.

1. Download Gparted and create a bootable usb or mount the ISO file via the iLO/iDrac.

2. Once in Gparted you need to look for two 250MB paritions, shown below:

3. Open a terminal window and type the following commands:

sudo su
mkdir /boot /temp
mount /dev/sda5 /boot
cd /boot
cp state.tgz /temp
cd /temp
tar -xf state.tgz
tar -xf local.tgz
rm *.tgz
cd etc

4. Now we need to edit the shadow file and remote the password. Use vi or nano to open shadow:

vi shadow

or

 nano shadow

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