VBA: How to change the password for the admin account on VBA/EBR?

Summary: How to change the password for the admin account on VBA/EBR? VBA: How to reset OS password?

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Instructions

NOTE: The VMware Backup Appliance (VBA) is no longer used for VMware protection. The NetWorker VMware Protection (NVP) vProxy is now used for VMware protection. Starting with NetWorker 19.7.x, it is no longer possible to recover VBA based VM backups using the vProxy appliance.

Follow the below instructions to reset OS password for VBA:
  1. Make sure the VBA VM is turned off.
  2. Open the Console and be ready to hit 'Esc' key on the VBA blank console as soon as the boot loader is loaded.
  3. Power on the VBA appliance from vCenter.
  4. Click on the console and hit 'Esc' key as soon as bootloader is loaded. If you see a warning message, please hit 'Esc' again.
  5. Type init=/bin/sh in front of the Boot Options towards bottom of the VBA console (See Figure 1)
kA5f1000000Xa32CAC_1_0
  1. Hit Return to start the boot process.
  2. Once the booting is completed, the VBA will be logged in a single user mode.
  3. Enter the command passwd admin or passwd root to reset the admin or root password respectively (See Figure 2)
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  1. Once the password is confirmed, type reboot and hit Return to restart the VBA normally.

Additional Information

NetWorker: How to Decommission A VBA appliance after all save sets expire?

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

Avamar Virtual Edition, NetWorker, NetWorker Series
Article Properties
Article Number: 000022533
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 29 Jul 2025
Version:  4
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