How to set password for newly created Virtual Machines from Advance panel.

Overview

This article explains how to set or reset the login password for a Virtual Machine (VM) using the CloudPe Advance dashboard. This is useful when:

• You have just created a new VM and need to set an initial password.
• You have forgotten the existing password and need to reset it.
• You want to update the password for security reasons.

⚠️ Prerequisite: The VM must be in a Running (powered on) state for the password reset to work. If your VM is stopped, start it first before proceeding.

Steps to Set the VM Password

Step 1 — Navigate to Your Virtual Machine

1. Log in to the Advance panel.
2. In the left navigation menu, click Virtual Machines.
3. Click on the name of the VM you want to set a password for.
4. Click Set password option to set the password.

ℹ️ If the “Set Password” option is greyed out or missing, the QEMU guest agent may not be running.

Requirement: QEMU Guest Agent The set password feature requires the QEMU guest agent to be installed and running inside your VM. It works automatically on all standard CloudPe OS images (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, etc.). It may not work on VMs created from custom ISO images.

Step 2 — Enter or Generate a Password

You have two options:

• Generate automatically: Click the Generate Password button. The system will create a strong password for you.
• Enter manually: Type a Strong Password for your VM.:

Step 4 — Confirm and Apply

1. Click on Set option.
2. The dashboard will show a success message.

ℹ️ Which user does this set the password for?
The password is set for the default OS user of the image you selected:

Ubuntu → root
Debian → root
CentOS / Rocky Linux → root
Windows → Administrator

Strong Password Guidelines:

CloudPe enforces the following password requirements. Your new password will be rejected if it does not meet these criteria:

1. Minimum Length: At least 12–16 characters.
2. Combination of Characters: Include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols (@, #, $, etc.).
3. Avoid Common Words: Do not use easily guessable words like ‘password123’ or your name.
4. No Reuse: Avoid reusing old passwords.

By following these steps and best practices, you can ensure the security of your VM and prevent unauthorised access.

Post-Set/Reset Login Verification:

After resetting your VM password, it is important to verify that the new credentials are working correctly.

For Windows VMs:

⚠️ Before connecting via RDP, ensure that port 3389 (RDP) is allowed in your CloudPe Security Group. If port 3389 is blocked, the RDP connection will fail even after a successful password reset.

• Open a new RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) connection to the VM’s IP address.
• Enter the username and new password to verify access.

For Linux VMs:

⚠️ Before connecting via SSH, ensure that port 22 (SSH) is allowed in your CloudPe Security Group. If port 22 is blocked, the SSH connection will fail even after a successful password reset.

• Open a new terminal session and attempt an SSH login using the new password:

  ssh username@<VM_IP>

• Enter the username and password to verify access.