"Error setting the root password. Password requires at least 8 symbols and 4 character types. Please use the default password to connect"

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Post deployment of VLSR appliance, its virtual console would throw following error message login:
  
  
  
  "Error setting the root password. Password requires at least 8 symbols and 4 character types. Please use the default password to connect"
"Error setting the admin password. Password requires at least 8 symbols and 4 character types. Please use the default password to connect"

Environment

VMware Live Site Recovery 8.x

VMware Live Site Recovery 9.x

Cause

• This error message is observed when a weak password is allowed to be used during OVF deployment for 'root' and 'admin' user, but on virtual console of appliance, the error is displayed.
  
  
• Even if password is changed later on through GRUB, the error message would stay.

Resolution

• The fix in future release (VLSR 9.1 onwards) is to exhibit proper notification message at the OVF wizard showing weak password is entered and disallow entering of the same.
  
  

Workaround : 

• For now, the only way to clear this error message is to redeploy VLSR appliance and ensure strong passwords (using all 4 character types for root and admin users) are used in deployment wizard.