Certain Special Characters Cause Software iSCSI Initiator CHAP Configuration Corruption

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

If you set up CHAP using a "$" character, target discovery fails and disabling or resetting CHAP does not work properly. Other special characters, such as () @ # $ % ^ & and *, might cause the same problem.

Environment

VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x

Resolution

Follow these steps:

1. Open a remote shell or local terminal to the host.
2. Log in as root.
3. Open the file /etc/vmkiscsi.conf in an editor.
4. To disable CHAP:
   1. Remove the lines starting with
      OutgoingUsername=
      OutgoingPassword=
      These lines might be corrupted.
   2. Add the following lines:
      #OutgoingUsername=
      #OutgoingPassword=
      Be sure to include the comment indicator (#)
5. Save the file.
6. Re-enable CHAP without using special characters in the username and password. Escaping special characters does not work reliably.