diff --git a/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/esx.pm b/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/esx.pm
index 8a232cc84..447a6b762 100644
--- a/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/esx.pm
+++ b/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/esx.pm
@@ -2919,6 +2919,12 @@ sub  makecustomizedmod {
     if (-e "$::XCATROOT/share/xcat/netboot/esxi/xcatsplash") {
         copy( "$::XCATROOT/share/xcat/netboot/esxi/xcatsplash",$tempdir."/etc/vmware/welcome");
     }
+    if (-r "/root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub") {
+        my $umask = umask(0077);#don't remember if dropbear is picky, but just in case
+        mkpath($tempdir."/.ssh";
+        copy("/root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub",$tempdir."/.ssh/authorized_keys");
+        umask($umask;
+    }
     my $tfile;
     mkpath($tempdir."/var/run/vmware");
     open $tfile,">",$tempdir."/var/run/vmware/show-tech-support-login";