ESXi 5.x – How-to enable SSH pre-login message banner

As a VMware admin you might be interested in this function. A message that could be used as a warning or informative purposes in your organization when someone tries to log into an ESXi host. When you SSH to ESXi host (in case the admin has enabled SSH) there is no message to the operator by default.

This article concerns ESXi 5.x – How-to enable SSH pre-login message banner by modifying a config file called issue located in /etc/issue. For previous versions of ESXi server, the procedure differs. The client/server SSH session is handled by OpenSSH since ESXi 5.0 where the previous versions were using Dropbear SSH.

A message that could say that this server's role is a testing server in the company, and the email of the admin is this or something else. The possibilities are endless and you may find it useful for your use case.

You can activate and insert a text of your choice which will appear before you enter your SSH password (after entering your login name).

ESXi 5.x – How-to enable SSH pre-login message banner?

1. Login to your ESXi 5.x server via SSH as a root. If SSH is disabled, you can enable it via the vSphere client by selecting your host > Security Profile > Properties > SSH > options .

2. Create a backup of the original file by:

cp /etc/issue /etc/issue.bak

3. Use vi editor to open the issue config file:

vi /etc/issue

4. Enter your message and save and quit VI editor (note: you do it by typing wq!)

5. Restart the SSH daemon by:

/etc/init.d/SSH restart

That's all -:). Enjoy…

Source: VMware KB – https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2068379