If you’d like to allow shell access to the root account on ESX 3.5 Update 2 you need to modify the sshd_config file.
- Login into the console using the root account
-
Edit the sshd_config file
vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
- Find "PermitRootLogin no" and change to "PermitRootLogin yes"
-
Restart the sshd server
service sshd restart