VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x

Notes:

• This solution can only be used for vCenter Server, and not to Update Manager. For Update Manager 4.1 Update 1, see Changing the vCenter Update Manager database password (1034605).
• For vCenter Server Appliance using the embedded Postgres database see Changing the default VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.1 and 5.5 database password (2056968).
• For Windows vCenter Server using the embedded Postgres database see How to change the default password of VMware vCenter Server embedded vpostgres database on Windows (56438.

To change the vCenter Server user ID for SQL database connections for vCenter Server 5.x and earlier:

Note: Before making any registry modifications, ensure that you have a current and valid backup of the registry. For more information on backing up and restoring the registry, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 136393.

1. Take a full backup of the registry prior to editing it. Do not skip this step.
2. Click Start > Run, type regedit and click OK.
3. In the Windows Registry Editor, navigate to:
    
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware VirtualCenter\DB (under My Computer)
      
   • For 32-bit versions of vCenter Server running on 64-bit versions of Windows:
     
     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\VMware, Inc.\VMware VirtualCenter\DB
      
   • For vCenter Server 5.0:
     
     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware VirtualCenter\DB
     
     Note: To see these keys in a 32-bit version of the Registry Editor in a 64-bit operating system, click Start > Run, type %systemroot%\syswow64\regedit, and click OK.
      
4. Right-click and click Modify.
5. Enter the database user ID in the Value data field.
6. Click OK.

1. Stop the vCenter Server service. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting VMware vCenter Server 6.0 services (2109881).
2. Navigate to: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vmware-vpx.
3. Take a backup copy of vpxd.cfg.
4. Open the vpxd.cfg file in a text editor.
5. Locate the <DB> element and modify the value for <key_2> to reflect the new database user ID.
   
   ...
   <DB>
   <key_2>database_user_id</key2>
   <key_3>*joqDY/eQvwyLBdLcXXJYZvDAd+FXYY8q7x///vhy4LE=</key_3>
   </DB>
   ...
    
6. If you are using Windows Integrated Authentication to connect to the vCenter Server database, remove the value for <key_3>.
7. Save the vpxd.cfg file.
8. Start the vCenter Server service. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting VMware vCenter Server 6.0 services (2109881).
   
   Note: If the vCenter Server database password has changed, use the following steps to update the vCenter Server database password before starting the vCenter Server service.

To update the password used by the vCenter Server for database connections to the SQL Database, use one of these options:

• Follow these steps in VMware Infrastructure (VI) Client for VirtualCenter 2.5 only:
   
  1. Click Administration > VirtualCenter Management Server Configuration.
  2. Click Database.
  3. In the Database Setting page, enter the new password in the Password field.
  4. Click OK.
      
• For VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 2 and later, the -p command line flag sets the database password in vCenter Server:
   
  1. Click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator to open a command prompt as an administrator.
  2. Run this command:
     
     For vCenter Server 5.5 and earlier:
     
     C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\vpxd.exe -p
     
     For vCenter Server 6.x:
     
     C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vpxd\vpxd.exe -p
     
     Note: This is the default path to the vCenter Server installation directory. Change the path appropriately, if required.
      
  3. Enter a new password when prompted.
     
     Note: If changing any SQL authentication modes or credentials (for example, changing from SQL to Windows authentication), ensure that the ODBC System DSN utilized for the vCenter Server database connection is also updated to reflect the credential changes.
      
  4. Restart the vCenter Server service. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895) and Stopping, starting, or restarting VMware vCenter Server 6.0 services (2109881).

Additional Information

For translated versions of this article, see:

• 日本語: vCenter Server データベースのユーザー ID およびパスワードの変更 (2073916)
• 简体中文: 更改 vCenter Server 数据库用户 ID 和密码 (2086973)
• Español: Cambiar el id. de usuario y la contraseña de la base de datos de vCenter Server (2129784)
• Português: Alterando a ID de usuário e a senha do banco de dados do vCenter Server (2130030)