An administrator has deployed a VMware vSphere Foundation instance into production.

The correct recovery method is to log in to the VCF Operations primary/master node console as root and reset the local administrator password using the CLI reset utility. Broadcom documents a dedicated procedure titled Reset the VCF Operations Administrator Password from CLI , and the guidance applies when the admin account password is lost. ( TechDocs ) The VMware Aria Operations administrator password reset workflow also identifies the vcopsSetAdminPassword.py --reset command as the reset mechanism when performed from the appliance command line as root. ( TechDocs ) This is different from a normal password rotation workflow. Fleet Management password management is used for managed component credentials, but it does not replace the break-glass local admin reset procedure when the administrator password is unknown. AD administrator access also does not reset the built-in local VCF Operations admin account unless that account is already accessible through supported administration workflows. Reference topic: Objective 4.14 – Fleet Management / Password Management / Reset VCF Operations Administrator Password from CLI .