Check it out, there is a way to enable SSH access on the ESXi version of VMware and access it via your favorite SSH tool.  This is unsupported by VMware of course, but it has really helped me recently in troubleshooting.  And let’s face it, anything “unsupported” by the vendor is usually the coolest stuff anyway eh?

After ESXi boots, you will be at the default OS screen that shows the IP address.

1. Hit “ALT+F1”
2. Type “unsupported” (no quotes) and hit Enter.  Note, you will not be able to see what you are typing here.
3. Enter the root password (the same one you use for the vSphere client)
4. Now you should be at the “unsupported” ESXi console - follow this process:
   
   • vi inetd.conf (I would love to use nano instead, but it’s not installed)
   • uncomment the line tcp/ssh
   • ZZ to exit the vi editor (If you’re not familiar with the vi editor, from a Windows systems guy to you, it is the most non-intuitive damn utility that I have ever seen.  Capital “ZZ” to exit, wth. Very powerful though from what I hear)
   • ps -a | grep inetd
   • find the busybox / inetd service
   • kill service_number
   • inetd

All done! Type “exit” to exit unsupported mode, then Alt+F11 to get back home. You should now be able to connect to the ESXi console with your favorite SSH app.