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How to solve "user locked out due to failed logins" in vSphere vMA

In vSphere 6, if the vi-admin account get locked because of too many failed logins, and you don't have the root password of the appliance, you can reset the account(s) using these steps:

  1. reboot the vMA
  2. from GRUB, "e"dit the entry
  3. "a"ppend init=/bin/bash
  4. "b"oot
  5. # pam_tally2 --user=vi-admin --reset
  6. # passwd vi-admin # Optional. Only if you want to change the password for vi-admin.
  7. # exit
  8. reset the vMA
  9. log in with vi-admin
These steps can be repeated for root or any other account that gets locked out.

If you do have root or vi-admin access, "sudo pam_tally2 --user=mylockeduser --reset" would do it, no reboot required.
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Matthew said…
Thanks!! :)
4/7/16 17:20
jeny miller said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
19/6/20 09:25
Amelia Smith said…
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6/7/20 13:06
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