If you did not set a logon password when you created an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance or if you forget the logon password of an ECS instance, you can use the password reset feature to change the password or set a logon password for the instance. This topic describes how to reset the logon password of an ECS instance in the ECS console.
Prerequisites
The ECS instance whose logon password you want to reset is in the Running or Stopped state.Background information
This topic focuses on how to reset the logon password of an ECS instance in the ECS console. You can also use Cloud Assistant to reset the logon password of an ECS instance, or connect to an ECS instance and reset the logon password on the instance. The following table compares the different methods to reset the logon password of an ECS instance.
Method | Description | References |
---|---|---|
Reset the logon password of an ECS instance by using the ECS console |
Note If you want to reset the logon password of an ECS instance online, make sure that the following requirements are met:
| The Procedure section in this topic |
Reset the logon password of an ECS instance by using Cloud Assistant |
| Change the logon password of an instance |
Connect to the instance and reset its logon password on the instance |
| Change the logon password of an instance by connecting to the instance |
Considerations
When you reset the logon password of an ECS instance in the ECS console, take note of the following items:
- Choose an appropriate time to reset the logon password. If the instance is in the Running state, you must restart the instance after the logon password is reset offline for the new password to take effect. The instance restart may affect your business. We recommend that you reset the password during off-peak hours to minimize the impact on business.
- The key pair authentication method overrides the username-password authentication method. Linux instances can be logged on to by using key pairs or by using usernames and passwords. If you bind a key pair to a Linux instance that already has a logon password, the password becomes invalid and you can only use the key pair to log on to the instance. If you want to use a password to log on to the Linux instance, you must reset the logon password.
Procedure
- Log on to the ECS console.
- In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
- In the top navigation bar, select a region.
- Perform one of the following operations based on the number of instances whose logon passwords you want to reset at a time:
- To reset the logon password of a single instance, find the instance and choose Actions column..
- To reset the password of multiple instances at a time, select the instances and click Reset Instance Password below the instance list..
- To reset the logon password of a single instance, find the instance and choose Actions column..
- In the Reset Instance Password dialog box, set Methods to reset the password to Reset Online or Reset Offline as needed. Enter a password in the Logon Password and Confirm Password fields and click Save Password. The entered password must be 8 to 30 characters in length and contain at least three of the following character types:
- Uppercase letters
- Lowercase letters
- Digits
- Special characters. The supported special characters include
( ) ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * - _ + = | { } [ ] : ; ' < > , . ? /
Note For Windows instances, logon passwords cannot start with a forward slash (/).The following table describes the differences between resetting a password online and resetting a password offline.
Method to reset a password Description Reset a password online After you reset the logon password of an instance online, the new password is expected to take effect in 1 minute. You can go to the Operation Orchestration Service (OOS) console and click Executions in the left-side navigation pane to view the execution result of the password reset task. Reset a password offline After you reset the logon password of an instance offline, perform one of the following operations based on the instance state for the new password to take effect: - If the instance is in the Running state, click Restart Now.
- If the instance is in the Stopped state, the new password takes effect immediately when you start the instance.