SSH Client

Revision as of 21:32, 6 June 2014 by WikiFreak (talk | contribs)

Installation

By default Debian | Ubuntu doesn't include any SSH server.

apt-get install ssh openssh-server



SSH server configuration

Edit the configuration file:

vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config


X11 forwarding

In the configuration file, uncomment and set:

ForwardAgent yes
ForwardX11 yes
ForwardX11Trusted yes


Enable | Disable the forwarding:

# This server doesn’t have a XServer. Therefore do not forward graphical data.
X11Forwarding no


Port(s) number

You can listen on multiple port. Just do the following:

Port 22
Port 2200


Security psycho mode:

# The default port SSH is 22. You may want to change that port to another one so your server will be more discreet.
# NB: if your server is hosted the provider might need access for maintenance purposes.
Port XXXXX


Restart SSH server

/etc/init.d/ssh restart



Security

Firewall

See Firewall#SSH


Fail2ban

see Fail2ban#SSH_configuration



SSH server configuration - Authentication by Linux user login / password

Principle

This is the default authentication system.


Each user that has a local account on the server and member is allowed to access the SSH server with its login / password.

SSH default authentication system


Configuration changes

vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config


Protocol and password enforcement

Protocol 2			# only use SSH v2
PermitRootLogin no		# Avoid root connections
PermitEmptyPassword no	        # Forbidden user with empty passwords


Login time

# Time to log
LoginGraceTime 30


Restart SSH server

/etc/init.d/ssh restart



SSH server configuration - Authentication with RSA keys

Introduction

If you’d like to increase the authentication process you can use authentication by private/public key.

  • Generate new private / public keys on your own computer
  • Put the public key on the remote SSH server
  • Only the person with the private key can be authenticate on the server


SSH RSA authentication


For instance, this is how hosting company such as OVH can log on your system.


Security improvement: remove password authentication

When the key authentication is working you can remove the default access by login / password. Then, only people with a valid private/public key pair can log in.

That way, there is no way for brute-force attacks to be successful, so your system is more secure.


Declare the public key on the server

You have to:

  • log in to your SSH server with the user that’s gonna use this key
  • Go to user's home directory
  • Create a .ssh folder (if there was none before).
cd ~
mkdir .ssh
cd .ssh


Add the new public key to the list of allowed keys:

vim authorized_key


Prefix your key with:

  • RSA: ssh-rsa
  • DSA: ssh-dss

Then paste the public key in one line - the public key mustn't be change or separated in 2 lines!


# Example: 
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EA[...]Lg5whU0zMuYE5IZu8ZudnP6ds= myname@example.com
ssh-dss AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EA[...]Lg5whU0zMuYE5IZu8ZudnP6ds= myname@example.com


Adjust file rights, the authorized_keys file must be write/readable only by that user

chmod 640 authorized_keys
cd ..
chmod 700 .ssh


Configuration changes

vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config


Allow empty password

PermitEmptyPassword yes	        # allow empty password in favor of RSA keys


Restart SSH server

/etc/init.d/ssh restart



SSH server - Authentication using LDAP server

Requirement: LDAP server


Principle

The idea is to use a LDAP server to manage users and groups to ease the maintenance and administration.

  • Only 1 group of users is allowed to connect
  • Access can be dynamically and easily granted


SSH LDAP server authentication


Configuration

!! TO BE DONE !!




How-to generate private / public keys

Linux

Create key

1. Log-in with the user you want to use.


2. Generate a pair of authentication keys.

# Generating public/private rsa key pair
ssh-keygen -t rsa

>> Enter file in which to save the key: /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa

Log sample:

Created directory '/home/a/.ssh'.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): 
Enter same passphrase again: 
Your identification has been saved in /home/a/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/a/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
3e:4f:05:79:3a:9f:96:7c:3b:ad:e9:58:37:bc:37:e4


Summary

  • id_rsa == private key
  • id_rsa.pub == public key


Convert OpenSSH key to Windows Putty

See: http://meinit.nl/using-your-openssh-private-key-in-putty


Windows

You can generate private / public keys with PuttyGen = Putty key generator.


puttyGen first step


When the keys are OK, you have to enter a key pass-phrase. Your pass-phrase must be:

  • long (> 15 characters)
  • hard to guess
  • with letters + signs + numbers


Reminder

how to choose your passphrase and protect it: http://www.alcf.anl.gov/resource-guides/user-authentication-policies


PuttyGen 2nd step


Then, save your keys! You should be the only one to access the save location.



SSH client

Linux

Standard login

# syntax
ssh user@server -p portNumber

# example
ssh root@daxiongmao.eu -p 4422


Using RSA key

Windows

You have to use Putty to perform SSH login.


How to add a public / private key in Putty ?

1.Create profile

Putty SSH login step 1


2. Auto-login

Putty SSH login step 2


3. Attach private key

Putty SSH login step 3


4. Save profile

Putty SSH login step 4



References

Source:


Windows - putty software: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html


How to transform a SSH key into Windows Putty: http://meinit.nl/using-your-openssh-private-key-in-putty