If you are having trouble determining the source of a problem with your ESXi host, you can reset the system configuration.

Changes in the system configuration can be related to various problems, including problems with connectivity to the network and devices. Resetting the system configuration might solve such problems. If resetting the system configuration does not solve the problem, it can still rule out configuration changes made since the initial setup as the source of the problem.

When you reset the configuration, the software overrides all your configuration changes, deletes the password for the administrator account (root), and reboots the host. Configuration changes made by your hardware vendor, such as IP address settings and license configuration, might also be deleted.

Resetting the configuration does not remove virtual machines on the ESXi host. After you reset the configuration defaults, the virtual machines are not visible, but you make them visible again by reconfiguring storage and reregistering the virtual machines.

Caution: When you reset the configuration defaults, users accessing the host lose connectivity.

Prerequisites

Before resetting the configuration, back up your ESXi configuration in case you want to restore your configuration.

Procedure

  1. Back up the configuration by using the Get-VMHostFirmware PowerCLI cmdlet.
  2. From the direct console, select Reset System Configuration and press Enter.
  3. Press F11 to confirm.

Results

The system reboots after all settings are reset to the default values.