VCF 9.1 - Quick Tip: Forgot to Retrieve Auto-Generated Passwords from VCF Installer?

After completing a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 deployment using the VCF Installer UI, users can view and download the auto-generated passwords for all VCF components before exiting the deployment workflow and logging into VCF Operations.

What if you forgot to make a note of the passwords? 😅

The default behavior of the VCF Installer is to transition into the SDDC Manager component after deployment. Besides eliminating the need for an additional VM, it also means the VCF Installer remains accessible, which can come in handy in revisiting deployment details including the auto-generated passwords!

If you open a browser to the SDDC Manager FQDN, you will simply be redirected to the SDDC Manager UI, which is the expected default behavior. The trick is knowing that the VCF Installer is still available by appending the VCF Installer application path (e.g. https://sddcm01.vcf.lab/vcf-installer-ui/) to the SDDC Manager FQDN to access the VCF Installer UI!

You can now login using the password you had used when deploying the VCF Installer (hopefully you remember that password) and retrieve the auto-generated passwords. Once you have safely stored these password, you can login to VCF Operations and use the Fleet Management Password capability to remediate the VCF Component with your desired passwords.

Note: If you prefer to specify your desired password as part of a new VCF Fleet deployment and/or Convert workflow, you can specify them using the JSON method and then simply import JSON back into VCF Installer UI, this way you end up with the initial passwords you expect.

Lastly, since the VCF Installer interface is still accessible after your VCF Deployment, you can change/update the password using the SDDC Manager Update Local User API or you can even disable and remove that account using the SDDC Manager Remove Local User API, which you should be sure you have proper credentials to SDDC Manager before taking this action.

To demonstrate the password change for the VCF Installer user (e.g. admin@local), I have created the following PowerShell script called update_vcf_installer_admin_creds.ps1 which will require the SDDC Manager credentials along with the current and new password you intend to use. Once you run the script, it should return HTTP 204, assuming you used a strong enough password and now you can login to VCF Installer UI with your updated credentials.