Some subtleties of SSH (Secure Shell)Alan Robert ClarkOctober 21, 2019 |
Remote execution is the mainstay of any UNIX system. I realise that this is a novel idea to Bill’s friends, but the simple ability to run an app on another machine must surely be a cornerstone of UNIX.
THE conrnerstone of UNIX IS the shell. Period. Pointy-Clicky stuff is very sexy, but is devoid of power: try putting it in a cron() job :-) :-)
Hence the Remote Shell: rsh(). The ability to start a shell on another machine. Plagued by security holes etc, due to ancient architecture. Enter ssh(). The Secure Shell: has occassional holes, but get filled rapidly.
A bit harder to understand though, and can be frustrating in terms of continually asking for passwords, when the encryption is supposed to be transparent!
I have solved the ssh password problem after a good three years of typing passwords for every ssh and scp I issue!!!!!!!!!
Forget the .shosts or hosts.equiv or etc etc etc—garden path.
sshd -d is a **wonderful tool**. Exactly lists the reasons for rejecting anything, and verbosely tells you what it is about to try.
Hence: (in /home/clark) (#= root, $ as clark) First generate your host keys, public and private. (2018 update ecdsa, not dsa)
#rm -rf ~/.ssh to clear the cobwebs. rm /etc/ssh/ssh_host* ssh-keygen -t ecdsa to /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key (NOT DEFAULT) It provides the .pub's. NO PASSPHRASES (just press Enter) Perms: 600 moduli, sshd_config, ssh_host*(non.pub) 644 ssh_config, *.pub
Then, the user keys:
$ssh-keygen -t ecdsa as above (accept default files) NO PASSPHRASES vi .ssh/authorized_keys and :r the .ssh/id_ecdsa.pub chmod 600 .ssh/authorized_keys check 700 perms on .ssh
On the opposite machine, put this public key into the user’s home
.ssh/authorized_keys
via the last password scp()
you will
do :-)
I was focussing on host based stuff, unnecessary. Protocol2 does a full public/private key tunneling, hence making a passphrase useless. I initially got Protocol1 working (rsa1), but got rsa and dsa working easily. DSA is preferred, so you can JUST do DSA.
3 years of passwords, sheesh. The docs are unclear though, giving too many options/decisions without rationale. A simple HOWTO (like this) is required!
Just thought I would let you know. sshd -d reveals the main reason for the documented methods’ failure: permissions :-)
This was baffling, since setting the $DISPLAY
variable is tricky over a
home fibre connection, through DUN etc.
All seamlessly handled via ssh -X ytdp
. So simple.
This document was translated from LATEX by HEVEA.