Login or password prompt timeout inside Guest Operating System of virtual machine from vSphere Web Console

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article shares the scope to increase or decrease the amount of time allowed to enter a password at the login prompt inside the Guest OS when accessing a Virtual Machine via the vSphere Web Console. The scenarios may include:

• The login prompt resets or clears the password field before the user finishes typing.

• The console displays "Login timed out" or returns to the username prompt rapidly.

• The monitor appears to "go black" or sleep shortly after the login screen appears.

Resolution

The login or password prompt timeout and related settings are strictly controlled by the Guest Operating System's internal processes, security and power management policies. There are no configurable parameters within vCenter Server, ESXi, or the Virtual Machine settings to modify this behavior.

Kindly engage the Guest OS vendor to perform additional configuration changes that might be required to achieve this, some of which can be found in the Additional Information section of this article.

 

Additional Information

Reference Configurations

[IMPORTANT!]: Since this involves steps that are to be performed within the Guest OS, it is recommended to consult the Guest OS vendor. Ensure to take a virtual machine snapshot before proceeding

• For Linux Distributions (Ubuntu, RHEL, etc.) : Refer to Ubuntu Manpages: login.defs - shadow password suite configuration , Sudoers Manual - passwd_timeout
• For Windows Operating Systems: Refer to Microsoft Learn: Monitor powers off after 1 minute when PC is locked , Microsoft Learn: Interactive logon security settings