Reset the HP iLO Administrator password with hponcfg on ESXi

This posting is ~6 years years old. You should keep this in mind. IT is a short living business. This information might be outdated.

Sometimes you need to reset the ILO Administrator password. Sure, you can reboot the server, press F8 and then reset the Administrator password. If you have installed a HP customized ESXi image, then there is a much better way to reset the password: HPONCFG.

Check the /opt/hp/tools directory. You will find a binary called hponcfg.

~ # ls -l /opt/hp/tools/
total 5432
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 5129574 Oct 28 2014 conrep
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 108802 Oct 28 2014 conrep.xml
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 59849 Jan 16 2015 hpbootcfg
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 251 Jan 16 2015 hpbootcfg_esxcli
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 232418 Jul 14 2014 hponcfg
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 12529 Oct 31 2013 hptestevent
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 250 Oct 31 2013 hptestevent_esxcli

All you need is a simple XML file. You can use the VI editor or you can copy the necessary file with WinSCP to the root home directory on your ESXi host. I prefer VI. Change the directory to /opt/hp/tools. Then open the pwreset.xml.

~ # vi pwreset.xml

Press i to switch to the insert mode. Then paste this content into the file. You don’t have to know the current password!

<RIBCL VERSION="2.0">
<LOGIN USER_LOGIN="Administrator" PASSWORD="unknown">
<USER_INFO MODE="write">
<MOD_USER USER_LOGIN="Administrator">
<PASSWORD value="password"/>
</MOD_USER>
</USER_INFO>
</LOGIN>
</RIBCL>

Press ESC and then :wq<ENTER> to save the file and leave the VI. Now use HPONCFG together with the XML file to reset the password.

~ # /opt/hp/tools/hponcfg -f pwreset.xml
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility

Version 4.4-0 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2014
Firmware Revision = 1.85 Device type = iLO 3 Driver name = hpilo
iLO IP Address: 172.16.1.52
Script succeeded

That’s it! You can now login with “Administrator” and “password”.

4.9/5 - (51 votes)

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31 thoughts on “Reset the HP iLO Administrator password with hponcfg on ESXi”

amit kumar February 27, 2017 at 09:35
Thanks !!it worked
Reply ↓
Robert Strohl February 27, 2017 at 20:29
Did not work for me. My server is running Windows Server 2012 R2 Core (no GUI). Do you have any recommendations for how to reset ILO password on Server Core?
Reply ↓
1. Patrick Terlisten Post authorFebruary 27, 2017 at 20:47
  Hi Robert,
  the HP Lights-Out Online Configuration Utility is also available for windows. You csn install it from the latest Support Pack for ProLiant.
  Regards
  Patricl
  Reply ↓
anon March 9, 2017 at 08:05
Cheers dude!
Worked perfectly :)
Reply ↓
Anders June 9, 2017 at 11:05
Works like a charm, thank you!
Reply ↓
Daz September 9, 2017 at 08:51
Oh Man you saved my day! Works like a charm! Thank you
Reply ↓
Achille September 29, 2017 at 14:34
Thanks mate, saved me a trip to my client server
Greets
Reply ↓
George Parker October 24, 2017 at 07:57
Thanks, this worked for me too :)
Reply ↓
Vivek November 10, 2017 at 17:02
Hi
If i change the Administrator password of ILO with above method whether license key of ilo will get disappear ( deactivate)
Reply ↓
Achille January 9, 2018 at 15:04
Thank you
We changed the motherboard of one of our server and the licence key was lost.
We used your technique to get the serial key from another server on the same cluster
Reply ↓
Ahmed January 25, 2018 at 18:50
I’m trying this, and it says “Please wait while the firmware is reset.” Hmm. It finishes with ‘Script succeeded’, but still can’t log in with ‘password’.
I had copied your text into a text editor, saved it as pwreset.xml, and dropped it in the same folder as hponcfg. Any thoughts?
Reply ↓
1. Patrick Terlisten Post authorJanuary 26, 2018 at 10:40
  Please try to change the password in the XML. What server and ILO version do you use?
  Reply ↓
Mark February 23, 2018 at 17:49
I get a syntax error
“. –>
Script failed
What would the xml file look like for hponcfg version 4.0-12?
Reply ↓
1. Patrick Terlisten Post authorFebruary 23, 2018 at 19:57
  Hi Mark,
  I will have a look at this error if I have a chance to test it with hponcfg 4.0.
  Reply ↓
Jack Daniel February 26, 2018 at 22:13
Hi, Thanks for the helpful post. While trying this, I am getting error as below:
ERROR: Could not open input file pwreset.xml
Error processing the XML file : pwreset.xml
Any idea what could be wrong? I have edited the pwreset.xml file and used to change a custom local account(instead of Administrator).
Reply ↓
1. Dave C July 10, 2018 at 16:28
  Exactly the same for me
  ERROR: Could not open input file pwreset.xml
  Error processing the XML file : pwreset.xml
  my XML looks as follows
  Reply ↓
  1. Patrick Terlisten Post authorJuly 12, 2018 at 13:57
    ILO2, 3, 4 or 5?
    Reply ↓
    1. Justin September 4, 2018 at 10:04
      You need to cd into /opt/hp/tools
      Otherwise it cannot find the pwreset.xml
      Can you edit this in the topic Patrick?
      Reply ↓
      1. Patrick Terlisten Post authorSeptember 5, 2018 at 09:25
        Thanks for your comment. I’ve added this information.
    2. Asif January 16, 2019 at 22:15
      Getting the same error. Firmware Revision = 2.06 Device type = iLO 2
      Any advice?
      Thanks
      Reply ↓
      1. Patrick Terlisten Post authorJanuary 18, 2019 at 11:23
        Unfortunately not. Sorry :(
Ed Rusi March 5, 2018 at 16:58
It worked perfectly. It saved me from rebooting an ESXI host.
Reply ↓
Man October 21, 2018 at 00:18
I got below error when I try to run this. Please help
#hponcfg -f pwreset.xml
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility
Version 5.1.0 Date 08/08/2017 (c) 2005,2017 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
Firmware Revision = 2.55 Device type = iLO 4 Driver name = hpilo
Reply ↓
David Brown November 10, 2018 at 11:44
Um… OMG! I’ve been looking for this solution for years! Thank you for posting it.
Reply ↓
Ehsan December 16, 2018 at 07:01
Thanks Dude. it was very Helpful
Reply ↓
mandeep April 19, 2019 at 17:16
I got the same message ..the folder is
/opt/tools/hponcfg instead of /opt/hp…..
[roo[email protected]:~] /opt/tools/hponcfg -f pwreset.xml
Lights-Out Online Configuration utility for ESXi Version 5.3-0.0 (c) Copyright 2011-2018 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
Firmware Revision = 2.20 Device type = iLO 4 Driver name = ilo
ERROR: Could not open input file pwreset.xml
but I used Administrator this time and I recall my password .. my bad I was using other usernames …
try using -i instead of -f ..there are other switch parameters.
Reply ↓
1. Patrick Terlisten Post authorApril 28, 2019 at 12:17
  Thank you!
  Reply ↓
Lee February 2, 2021 at 16:09
This worked for me, thank you!
Reply ↓
Hein January 25, 2022 at 17:02
This worked. Thank you
Reply ↓
amir.zand March 4, 2022 at 05:16
Why do not I have this branch at all?
hp / tools
help pls
Reply ↓
1. David March 9, 2022 at 23:20
  Your ESXi image needs to be one from HPE, or you needed to install the HPE iLO tools on ESXi if you did not use an HPE image.
  Reply ↓

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