Reset Administrator Password on ILO

ESXI

Thanks to HP drivers, ILO can be configured directly inside ESXi without the need for a server reboot: going into the command line (locally or via ssh) you can move to /opt/hp/tools, and there you will find the commandhponcfg. This tool can be used to configure ILO:
first, write down the actual configuration of ILO. The easiest way to do it is by saving in an XML file:

1	/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg -w ilo.xml

2	HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility

3	Version 4.0-10 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2011

4	Firmware Revision = 1.81 Device type = iLO 2 Driver name = hpilo

5	Management Processor configuration is successfully written to file "ilo.xml"

then, edit the XML file and configure your desired parameters:

01	<!-- HPONCFG VERSION = "4.0-10.0" -->

02	<!-- Generated 8/6/2012 11:11:4 -->

03	<RIBCL VERSION="2.1">

04	<LOGIN USER_LOGIN="Administrator" PASSWORD="password">

05	<RIB_INFO MODE="write">

06	<MOD_NETWORK_SETTINGS>

07	<SPEED_AUTOSELECT VALUE = "Y"/>

08	<IP_ADDRESS VALUE = "10.123.183.197"/>

09	<SUBNET_MASK VALUE = "255.255.255.0"/>

10	<DNS_NAME VALUE = "esx-ilo"/>

11	<DHCP_ENABLE VALUE = "N"/>

12	<DOMAIN_NAME VALUE = "domain.local"/>

13	</MOD_NETWORK_SETTINGS>

14	</RIB_INFO>

15

</LOGIN>

16

</RIBCL>

Note: you will not need to edit everytime all the parameters, it will be enough to add the lines you want to change. But, you will always have to add the username and password line to authenticate the changes you are doing.load the new configuration into the ILO, it will take some time to complete:

1	/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg -f ilo.xml

2	HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility

3	Version 4.0-10 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2011

4	Firmware Revision = 1.81 Device type = iLO 2 Driver name = hpilo

5	<INFORM>Integrated Lights-Out will reset at the end of the script.</INFORM>

6

7	Please wait while the firmware is reset. This might take a minute

8	Script succeeded

Finally, ILO will automatically reset to load the new parameters, and you will be able to reach the ILO via web interface and login into it. Also, ESXi will show you the new ILO configuration:

WINDOWS 

1. I installed SNMP because it was a preprequesite for HP Insight Management Agents.
2. I dowloaded and installed the HP Insight Management Agents.
3. I then downloaded HP Lights-Out Online Configuration Utility.
4. I ran into NTVDM errors trying to run the file so I just used WinRAR to extract the contents into C:\hp\ilo. I also extracted the zip file contained within the initial archive.
5. I then downloaded the HP Lights-Out XML Scripting Sample for Windows (Linux users can download the files in tgz format here or here.) extracted it and found the file I was looking for --



<ribcl VERSION="2.0">
<login USER_LOGIN="Administrator" PASSWORD="boguspassword">
<user_INFO MODE="write">
<mod_USER USER_LOGIN="Administrator">
<password value="newpass"/>
</mod_USER>
</user_INFO>
</login>
</ribcl>


6. Using notepad, I opened up the sample file and modified it slightly. Initially, I just removed the LOGIN and ran the file but HPONCFG gave me a syntax error. I then added it back and gave the Administrator a bogus password. Apparently, the LOGIN line is required for syntax reasons but it is not actually processed.
7. Next, I opened a command line and changed directories to C:\hp\ilo and typed the following:
HPONCFG.exe /f Administrator_reset_pw.xml /l log.txt > output.txt

8. I opened up Firefox, navigated to my iLO machine and voila! I was able to login as Administrator.

If changing Administrator's password seems too scary, you can also add another user with administrator privileges. You can then login as that user and change the Administrator password via the web console. Use the following code, suited to your liking:



<ribcl version="2.0">
<login USER_LOGIN="Administrator" PASSWORD="boguspass">
<user_INFO MODE="write" >
<add_USER
USER_NAME="Chrissy"
USER_LOGIN="Chrissy"
PASSWORD="mynewpass">
<reset_SERVER_PRIV value = "Y" />
<admin_PRIV value = "Y" />
</add_USER>
</user_INFO>
</login>
</ribcl>