VMware Skyline Collector Password Reset

The root and/or admin account password of VMware Skyline Collector Appliance fails
The root and/or admin account of the VMware Skyline Collector Appliance is locked or password is expired
The root and/or admin account password has been lost or forgotten

This article provides the steps to reset the Skyline Collector root and admin passwords.

For passwords that have expired, Skyline Collector Appliance root account password expired after 60 days.

For accounts that are locked, the default root account lockout policy is set to 3 incorrect authentication attempts.

To reset the Skyline collector Admin account password:

1. Make a snapshot of the Skyline Collector Appliance

2. Login into the console of the collector appliance. 
3. Change directory to /usr/local/skyline/ccf/config/generated/

cd /usr/local/skyline/ccf/config/generated/

4. Delete the file credentials.json

rm credentials.json

5. Restart the collector service

systemctl restart ccf-collector

6. Login to the Skyline Collector UI using the admin user and the default admin password and proceed to change the password as desired
7. Remove the snapshot from step 1 if applicable.

To reset the root password for the Skyline Collector Appliance:

1. Take a snapshot or backup of the Skyline Collector Appliance before proceeding.

Caution: Do not skip this step

2. Reboot the Skyline Collector Appliance.
3. After the Skyline Collector Photon OS starts, press the e key to enter the GNU GRUB Edit Menu.
4. Locate the line that begins with the word Linux.
5. Append these entries to the end of the line:
   
   rw init=/bin/bash
   
   The line should look like the following screenshot:

6. Press F10 to continue booting.
7. Run the command  

mount -o remount,rw / 

8. In the Command prompt, enter the command passwd and provide a new root password (twice for confirmation):

9. (Optional) In the Command prompt, enter the below command to unlock the root account

pam_tally2 -r -u root

10. Reboot the Skyline Collector Appliance by running this command:

reboot -f  

11. Confirm that you can access the Skyline Collector Appliance using the new root password.
12. Remove the snapshot taken in Step 1 if applicable.