OK done that, and restarted sshd, but I'm still getting access denied. The same password works in the Infrastructure client, web console and local console.

Do I need to enable any other settings in ssh_config? Such as PasswordAuthentication?

Thanks
- Adam

To allow the root user to log in to a VMware ESX Server over the network using SSH, do the following:

Go to the service console on the physical server and log in
vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Change the line that says PermitRootLogin from “no” to “yes”
Do service sshd restart