1. download the GParted live boot iso and create a CD or USB Stick
   
   
2. reboot server and boot from iso
   
   
3. the GParted window show the partitions on the server
   
   
   
4. /dev/sda5 is the first esxi partition
   
   
5. open a terminal
   
   
6. enter following command to change on root:

   sudo -s

7. create a subdir in the mount dir /mnt:

   mkdir /mnt/esxi

8. mount sda5 (or maybe a other partition):

   mount /dev/sda5 /mnt/esxi

9. find the state.tgz in mounted dir:

   ls /mnt/esxi/st*

   

10. copy state.tgz to temp dir:

    cp /mnt/esxi/state.tgz /tmp

11. change to tmp dir:

    cd /tmp

12. unpack state.tgz:

    tar xzf state.tgz

13. now you can see the content of the file in /tmp
    
14. unpack the local.tgz file:

    tar xzf local.tgz

    
    

15. change to etc dir:

    cd etc

    
    

16. open shardow file with vi:

    vi shadow

    
    

17. delete the password hash after the root account (press i, go to the : and delete all the chars until the next : )
    
    
    
18. save file and exit (save with ESC + :wq + ENTER)
    
    
19. go one dir up:

    cd ..

20. pack the new local.tgz:

    tar czf local.tgz etc

21. pack the new state.tgz:

    tar czf state.tgz local.tgz

22. backup the original state.tgz:

    cp /mnt/esxi/state.tgz /mnt/esxi/state.tgz-old

23. copy the new state.tgz:

    cp /tmp/state.tgz /mnt/esxi

24. unmount esxi partition:

    umount /mnt/esxi

    

25. take of CD, USB stick or unmount remote ISO and reboot server:

    reboot

The ESXi should now reboot and after the boot is finished you can check the login with F2 (Settings) and login with root with empty (or without) password.