HowTo: Enable SSH and Remote Tech Support mode on ESXi 4.1

A couple of days ago I posted an article that has been produced hundreds of times about Enabling ssh on ESXi – pre 4.1.  Today I thought I would post a quick how-to about enabling it via vCenter on ESXi 4.1.  This drastically makes life easier, because you neither have to edit config files via the cLI nor do you need access to server consoles either remotely or physically.

1) Log in to vCenter
2) Select your host
3) Click the configuration tab
4) Select Security Profile under Software – You will be shown the services that are available for configuration
5) Click Properties


6) Highlight Remote Tech Support (SSH) and click options
7) Choose the Startup policy and Service Command that you require.
8 ) Click Ok
9) Click Ok
10) Open up a SSH session to your host and login

Once enabled you will notice that the host within vCenter has a warning being shown.  When selecting that host, and looking under the summary, vCenter alerts you to the fact that Remote Tech Support Mode (SSH) has been enabled.

, , , , , ,

10 Responses to HowTo: Enable SSH and Remote Tech Support mode on ESXi 4.1

  1. Justin September 13, 2010 at 2:23 pm #

    You should also add a screen shot showing that vCenter provides a warning on the Summary page that Local or Remote Technical Support is enabled.

  2. davehill September 14, 2010 at 8:24 am #

    Nice idea Justin, have updated the post.

  3. Mark Persaud October 31, 2011 at 7:12 pm #

    Is there any issues in regards to tuning that on while checking for issues? Will it affect any of the running guests?

  4. support g December 6, 2011 at 11:58 am #

    Thank you for the post. The topic may have been posted about many times but I came across yours and it’s spot on. Of course at this point vmware 5 is available. I have not installed it yet but look forward to perhaps a follow-up post on how to enable SSH on 5. My guess is that it will be similar to 4.1

  5. Tech Support g December 6, 2011 at 12:03 pm #

    The method to enabling SSH on esxi before 4.1 was definitely cumbersome. For those of use familiar with the vi edit it helped a little but even then you start wondering why was this left to be done this way.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Tweets that mention Enable SSH and Remote Tech Support mode on ESXi 4.1 | virtual-blog.com -- Topsy.com - September 13, 2010

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Duncan Yellow Bricks, David Hill. David Hill said: New Article :: How-to Enable SSH and Remote Tech Support mode on ESXi 4.1 :: http://bit.ly/ba43Kg […]

  2. Enable SSH and Remote Tech Support mode on ESXi 4.1 | virtual-blog.com - September 16, 2010

    […] View original post here:  Enable SSH and Remote Tech Support mode on ESXi 4.1 | virtual-blog.com […]

  3. Top 5 Blog Articles for first half of 2011 : virtual-blog - June 22, 2011

    […] HowTo: Enable SSH and Remote Tech Support mode on ESXi 4.1 […]

  4. HowTo: Enable SSH on vSphere ESXi 5.0 : Virtual-Blog.com test site - November 20, 2012

    […] in 2010 and I wrote a quick article on How To: Enable Remote Tech Support mode and SSH on ESXi 4.1. A few people have posted comments asking if I could do the same now that vSphere/ESXi 5.0 has been […]

  5. Kaavie – King Pro – E-TTL-Professionnel- Récepteur de flash à distance 300 m pour Canon DSLR & Flashgun (seul récepteur) – Écran LCD / 300M / 15 canaux / 3 groupes / Support 1er et 2ème rideau / SYNC jusqu’à 1/8000s / mod - June 27, 2014

    […] rideau / SYNC jusqu’à 1/8000s / mode manuel de soutien et le ratio de zoom réglable et support mode & Support Mode TTL & Studio Light et Light & externe émetteur prend en charge le flash […]

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Copyright David Hill

Powered by WordPress. Designed by Woo Themes

%d bloggers like this: