SSH

SSH (Secure SHell) is an encrypted terminal program that replaces the classic telnet tool on Unix-like operating systems.

In addition to remote terminal access provided by the main binary, the SSH suite of programs has grown to include other tools such as  (Secure Copy Program) and  (Secure File Transfer Protocol).

Originally, SSH was not free. However, today the most popular and de-facto standard implementation of SSH is OpenBSD's OpenSSH, which comes pre-installed on Gentoo.

Check install
Most deployments of Gentoo Linux will already have OpenSSH installed on the system. This can be checked by running the command. If it is installed a usage statement should be printed:

If no usage statement is printed is either corrupted or not installed. It is also possible that a user is simply rebuilding OpenSSH to include a new USE configuration. Whatever the case, proceed on to view possible USE settings.

Emerge
After changing the necessary USE flags, do not forget to install (or rebuild) OpenSSH:

OpenRC
Add the OpenSSH daemon to the default runlevel if this has not been done already:

Start the sshd daemon with:

The OpenSSH server can be controlled like any other OpenRC-managed service:

Create keys
In order to provide a secure shell, cryptographic keys are used to manage the encryption, decryption, and hashing functionalities offered by SSH.

On the first start of the SSH service, system keys will be generated. Keys can be (re)generated using the command.

To generate the key used for SSH protocol version 1 (which usually is not enabled anymore; it has been deprecated in favor of protocol version 2) use:

To generate the keys for SSH protocol version 2 (DSA and RSA algorithms):

Server configuration
The SSH server is usually configured in the file, though it is also possible to perform further configuration in OpenRC's, including changing the location of the configuration file. For detailed information on how to configure the server see the sshd_config man page.

Users should study Sven's OpenSSH guide for a security focused configuration.

Client configuration
The client and related programs (,, etc.) can be configured using the following files:



For more information read the manual:

Passwordless authentication
Handy for git server management.

Client
On the client run the following command:

Server
Make sure an account for the user exists on the server, and then place the clients' file into the server's  file in the user's home directory.

Single machine testing
The above procedure can be tested out locally:

Intrusion prevention
SSH is a commonly attacked service. Tools such as sshguard and fail2ban monitor logs and black list remote users who have repeatedly attempted, yet failed to login. Utilize them as needed to secure a frequently attacked system.

Troubleshooting
There are 3 different levels of debug modes that can help troubleshooting issues. With the  option SSH prints debugging messages about its progress. This is helpful in debugging connection, authentication, and configuration problems. Multiple  options increase the verbosity. Maximum verbosity is three levels deep.

Death of long-lived connections
Many internet access devices perform Network Address Translation (NAT), a process that enables devices on a private network such as that typically found in a home or business place to access foreign networks, such as the internet, despite only having a single IP address on that network. Unfortunately, not all NAT devices are created equal, and some of them incorrectly close long-lived, occasional-use TCP connections such as those used by SSH. This is generally observable as a sudden inability to interact with the remote server, even though the client program has not exited.

In order to resolve the issue, OpenSSH clients and servers can be configured to send a 'keep alive', or invisible message aimed at maintaining and confirming the live status of the link:


 * To enable keep alive for all clients connecting to your local server, set  (or some other value, in seconds) within the  file.
 * To enable keep alive for all servers connected to by your local client, set  (or some other value, in seconds) within the  file.

X11 forwarding, not forwarding, or tunneling
Problem: After having made the necessary changes to the configuration files for permitting X11 forwarding, it is discovered X applications are executing on the server and are not being forwarded to the client.

Solution: What is likely occurring during SSH login into the remote server or host, the DISPLAY variable is either being unset or is being set after the SSH session sets it.

Test for this scenario perform the following after logging in remotely:

The output should be something similar to  or   using server side   setting. If the usual  is not displayed, check to make sure the DISPLAY variable within  is not being unset or re-initializing. If it is, remove or comment out any custom initialization of the DISPLAY variable to prevent the code in from executing during a SSH login:

Be sure to substitute  in the command above with the proper username.

A trick that works to complete this task would be to define an alias within the users' file.

External resources

 * Securing OpenSSH - Gentoo developer documentation.
 * OpenSSH Key Management Part1 - Gentoo documentation, have a look at all 3 parts.