diff --git a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/admin/host/AddHostCmd.java b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/admin/host/AddHostCmd.java
index 960be8df577..b58aaf345ae 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/admin/host/AddHostCmd.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/admin/host/AddHostCmd.java
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ public class AddHostCmd extends BaseCmd {
     @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.CLUSTER_NAME, type = CommandType.STRING, description = "the cluster name for the host")
     private String clusterName;
 
-    @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.PASSWORD, type = CommandType.STRING, required = true, description = "the password for the host")
+    @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.USERNAME, type = CommandType.STRING, description = "the username for the host; required to be passed for hypervisors other than VMWare")
+    private String username;
+
+    @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.PASSWORD, type = CommandType.STRING, description = "the password for the host; required to be passed for hypervisors other than VMWare")
     private String password;
 
     @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.POD_ID, type = CommandType.UUID, entityType = PodResponse.class, required = true, description = "the Pod ID for the host")
@@ -63,9 +66,6 @@ public class AddHostCmd extends BaseCmd {
     @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.URL, type = CommandType.STRING, required = true, description = "the host URL")
     private String url;
 
-    @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.USERNAME, type = CommandType.STRING, required = true, description = "the username for the host")
-    private String username;
-
     @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.ZONE_ID, type = CommandType.UUID, entityType = ZoneResponse.class, required = true, description = "the Zone ID for the host")
     private Long zoneId;
 
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/cloud/resource/ResourceManagerImpl.java b/server/src/main/java/com/cloud/resource/ResourceManagerImpl.java
index 4731ac6d08a..89ccf17b148 100755
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/cloud/resource/ResourceManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/cloud/resource/ResourceManagerImpl.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import com.cloud.storage.dao.DiskOfferingDao;
 import com.cloud.vm.UserVmManager;
 import com.cloud.vm.VirtualMachineProfile;
 import com.cloud.vm.VirtualMachineProfileImpl;
+import com.google.common.base.Strings;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.api.ApiConstants;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.api.command.admin.cluster.AddClusterCmd;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.api.command.admin.cluster.DeleteClusterCmd;
@@ -688,6 +689,10 @@ public class ResourceManagerImpl extends ManagerBase implements ResourceManager,
         if ((clusterName != null || clusterId != null) && podId == null) {
             throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Can't specify cluster without specifying the pod");
         }
+        if (!HypervisorType.VMware.toString().equalsIgnoreCase(hypervisorType) &&
+                (Strings.isNullOrEmpty(username) || Strings.isNullOrEmpty(password))) {
+            throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Username and Password need to be provided.");
+        }
 
         if (clusterId != null) {
             if (_clusterDao.findById(clusterId) == null) {