This article is applicable only to Postgres database which is the embedded DB option available during install. If you have forgotten the database password then you will not be able to login to DB to alter tables or perform a repair / modify on the SRM instance.
Before resetting the password, make sure the SRM machine is on a snapshot and a backup is available for the DB.
1. First we will need to edit the pg_hba.conf file to allow all users as trusted users so that a password-less authentication will be performed. The pg_hba.conf file is located under:
Locate this section in the conf file:
# TYPE DATABASE USER ADDRESS METHOD
# IPv4 local connections:
host all all 127.0.0.1/32 md5
# IPv6 local connections:
host all all ::1/128 md5
# Allow replication connections from localhost, by a user with the
# replication privilege.
#host replication postgres 127.0.0.1/32 md5
#host replication postgres ::1/128 md5
Before resetting the password, make sure the SRM machine is on a snapshot and a backup is available for the DB.
1. First we will need to edit the pg_hba.conf file to allow all users as trusted users so that a password-less authentication will be performed. The pg_hba.conf file is located under:
C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Embedded Database\data\pg_hba.confMake a backup of the file before editing it.
Locate this section in the conf file:
# TYPE DATABASE USER ADDRESS METHOD
# IPv4 local connections:
host all all 127.0.0.1/32 md5
# IPv6 local connections:
host all all ::1/128 md5
# Allow replication connections from localhost, by a user with the
# replication privilege.
#host replication postgres 127.0.0.1/32 md5
#host replication postgres ::1/128 md5
Replace that complete set with this:
# TYPE DATABASE USER ADDRESS METHOD
# IPv4 local connections:
host all all 127.0.0.1/32 trust
# IPv6 local connections:
host all all ::1/128 trust
# Allow replication connections from localhost, by a user with the
# replication privilege.
#host replication postgres 127.0.0.1/32 md5
#host replication postgres ::1/128 md5
Save the file.
2. Restart the SRM Embedded database service from services.msc
3. Open a command prompt in admin mode and now we will have to login to the database. Navigate to the below bin directory:
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Embedded Database\bin
4. Connect to the postgres database using:
psql -U postgres -p 5678
Port might vary if you had a custom install of the database.
5. Run the below query to change the password:
ALTER USER "enter srm db user here" PASSWORD 'new_password';
The srm db user / port information can be found from the 64 bit ODBC connection.
A successful execution will return the output: "ALTER ROLE"
6. Revert the changes performed the pg_hba.conf file so that md5 authentication is required for users to login to SRM database.
7. Restart the SRM Embedded DB service again
Post this, the SRM service will fail to restart and you will notice the following backtrace in vmware-dr.log
2018-01-17T02:25:15.628Z [01748 error 'WindowsService'] Application error:
--> std::exception 'class Vmacore::Exception'"DBManager error: Could not initialize Vdb connection: ODBC error: (08001) - FATAL: password authentication failed for user "srmadmin"
--> "
-->
--> [backtrace begin] product: VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager, version: 6.1.1, build: build-3884620, tag: -
--> backtrace[00] vmacore.dll[0x001C568A]
--> backtrace[01] vmacore.dll[0x0005CA8F]
--> backtrace[02] vmacore.dll[0x0005DBDE]
--> backtrace[03] vmacore.dll[0x0001362B]
--> backtrace[04] vmware-dr.exe[0x0015C59A]
--> backtrace[05] MSVCR90.dll[0x00074830]
--> backtrace[06] MSVCR90.dll[0x00043B3C]
--> backtrace[07] ntdll.dll[0x0009CED3]
--> backtrace[08] vmware-dr.exe[0x000060AF]
--> backtrace[09] vmware-dr.exe[0x00006A5E]
--> backtrace[10] windowsService.dll[0x00002BCE]
--> backtrace[11] windowsService.dll[0x000020DD]
--> backtrace[12] sechost.dll[0x000081D5]
--> backtrace[13] KERNEL32.DLL[0x0000168D]
--> backtrace[14] ntdll.dll[0x00074629]
--> [backtrace end]
Run a Modify on the SRM instance from Add/Remove programs and provide the new database password during this process and the service will start up just fine.
Hope this helps.