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Veeam Software Appliance (VSA) root password

  • December 18, 2025
  • 4 comments
  • 27 views

What’s the root password on the VSA?

4 comments

Chris.Childerhose
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  • Veeam Legend, Veeam Vanguard
  • December 18, 2025

I think you need to set this but again as I mentioned before this can be a challenge.  You can use veeamadmin and request ROOT access then log in to the Web Console in a browser and drop to shell.  You can then use that to do some editing.  Not sure if it will work fully though.

 
 
 

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  • Comes here often
  • December 19, 2025

Hi, please don’t try to set a root password -- the VSA is designed to not ever need such a situation and the shell you enter into is a virtual shell, not a true shell.

There is never a need for the root password on the VSA -- you can request root access through the Host Management Console for troubleshooting purposes under the supervision of Veeam Support, but you’re still in a virtual (limited) shell

What activities are you wanting to do on the VSA shell that you need elevated permissions for? As of v13.0.1, all operations ought be accomplished through the Host Management Console or TUI.


  • Author
  • New Here
  • December 19, 2025

Hi, please don’t try to set a root password -- the VSA is designed to not ever need such a situation and the shell you enter into is a virtual shell, not a true shell.

There is never a need for the root password on the VSA -- you can request root access through the Host Management Console for troubleshooting purposes under the supervision of Veeam Support, but you’re still in a virtual (limited) shell

What activities are you wanting to do on the VSA shell that you need elevated permissions for? As of v13.0.1, all operations ought be accomplished through the Host Management Console or TUI.

I need to enable a cipher to be able to connect to our HPE Nimble Storage array. Veeam tech support says, “For the Veeam Software Appliance (Linux-based), you will need to ensure the cipher is enabled in the system's OpenSSL configuration. Consult your Linux distribution's documentation for enabling specific TLS ciphers.” I need root access to change the configuration.


MattM
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  • Experienced User
  • December 19, 2025

After enabling root access for your user via host management console (and security offer approval, if configured), you will need to login to the appliance’s (physical or virtual) console. Root access is not available via ssh session, nor is sudo.

From there, you are automatically elevated to root, no need to use sudo or enter a root password.