VMware ESXi Password Requirements and Restrictions

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information about ESXi 6.x or higher password requirements and restrictions.

• Unable to set a password ESXi 6.x
• VMware vSphere Client errors:
   
  • A general system error occurred: passwd: Authentication token manipulation error
  • An internal error has occurred, and the wizard is unable to store the Administrator password securely. The customization cannot proceed. Please contact VMware technical support for more information.
     
• Console error:
  
  Weak password: not enough different characters or classes for this length.
passwd: Authentication token manipulation error

Cause

This issue may occur if a password is invalid.

Resolution

A valid password requires a mix of upper and lower case letters, digits, and other characters. Use a 7-character long password with characters from at least three of these four classes, or a 6-character long password containing characters from all the classes. A password that begins with an upper case letter and ends with a numerical digit does not count towards the number of character classes used. It is recommended that the password does not contain the username.

A passphrase requires at least 3 words, can be 8 to 40 characters long, and must contain enough different characters.

 

 

To change the password complexity of ESXi local user:

 

For example:

 

To force a particular password to create a local user in ESXi with the credentials

 

User name : UserName
Password : !P@ssWord!

 

To make these settings on an ESXi 6.0 host, modify /etc/pam.d/passwd file:

1. Take a backup /etc/pam.d/passwd file.
2. Edit it to
   
   password requisite /lib/security/$ISA/pam_passwdqc.so retry=3 min=0,0,0,0,0
   ​
3. Create the user and password.

Note: ​Alternatively, you can change the Security.PasswordQuality Control from the Advanced option on the GUI. For more information, see ESXi Passwords and Account Lockout.