How to Reset the Root Password of an NSX Edge Appliance

NSX Edge appliances play a critical role in VMware NSX environments, enabling north-south routing, firewalling, load balancing, and VPN services. Losing access to an NSX Edge due to a forgotten or expired password can disrupt operations and limit management capabilities. In this blog, we’ll walk through the process of resetting the password for an NSX Edge appliance.

Note : The following procedure applies to resetting the passwords of NSX Managers, Edge, and Cloud Service Manager appliances.

In my use case we have forgotten root and admin both ,To reset root password you can reset it using the following procedure.

1. Login to NSX GUI -> System -> Nodes->Edge Cluster->Select the Edge Node -> Right Click ->Put into Maintenance Mode

   

   
   

   

   
   

2. Login to the vCenter locate the Edge VM and set boot delay setting to 9000

3. Connect to the console of the appliance.

4. Reboot the system

5. When the GRUB boot menu appears, press the left SHIFT or ESC key quickly. If you wait too long and the boot sequence does not pause, you must reboot the system again.

   

6. Press e to edit the menu.

7. Choose the top Ubuntu line then enter the user name root and the GRUB password for root (not the same as the appliance's user root). The default password is NSX@VM!WaR10

   

   
   

8. Press e to edit the selected option.

9. Search for the line starting with linux and add systemd.wants=PasswordRecovery.service

   to the end of the line.

   

10. Press Ctrl-X to boot.

11. When the log messages stop, enter the new password for root.

12. Enter the password again. The boot process continues.

13. After the reboot, you can verify the password change by logging in as root with the new password.

14. Using root login we can change the Admin and audit user password if we want to.

15. Final step is to exit the Edge Node from maintenance

    

✅ Post-Reset Steps

• Log in to the NSX Edge appliance with the new credentials via SSH or console.

• Update documentation with the new password securely.

• Verify services (routing, firewall, VPN, etc.) are operational after reboot.

🔒 Best Practices

• Always follow your organization’s password management and audit policies.

• Use complex passwords to secure the Edge appliance.

• Regularly back up your NSX configuration.

Resetting the password of an NSX Edge appliance is a straightforward but sensitive task. Using console access and GRUB modification, administrators can regain access and restore operations quickly. This process ensures that secure and continuous management of NSX Edge is maintained without needing to redeploy or reconfigure the appliance.

Have you had to recover access to an NSX Edge appliance? Share your experience or lessons learned in the comments!