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Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -07001SSHD(8) System Manager's Manual SSHD(8)
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -08002
3NAME
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -07004 sshd M-bM-^@M-^S OpenSSH SSH daemon
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -08005
6SYNOPSIS
7 sshd [-46DdeiqTt] [-b bits] [-C connection_spec]
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -07008 [-c host_certificate_file] [-E log_file] [-f config_file]
9 [-g login_grace_time] [-h host_key_file] [-k key_gen_time]
10 [-o option] [-p port] [-u len]
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -080011
12DESCRIPTION
13 sshd (OpenSSH Daemon) is the daemon program for ssh(1). Together these
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -070014 programs replace rlogin and rsh, and provide secure encrypted
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -080015 communications between two untrusted hosts over an insecure network.
16
17 sshd listens for connections from clients. It is normally started at
18 boot from /etc/rc. It forks a new daemon for each incoming connection.
19 The forked daemons handle key exchange, encryption, authentication,
20 command execution, and data exchange.
21
22 sshd can be configured using command-line options or a configuration file
23 (by default sshd_config(5)); command-line options override values
24 specified in the configuration file. sshd rereads its configuration file
25 when it receives a hangup signal, SIGHUP, by executing itself with the
26 name and options it was started with, e.g. /usr/sbin/sshd.
27
28 The options are as follows:
29
30 -4 Forces sshd to use IPv4 addresses only.
31
32 -6 Forces sshd to use IPv6 addresses only.
33
34 -b bits
35 Specifies the number of bits in the ephemeral protocol version 1
36 server key (default 1024).
37
38 -C connection_spec
39 Specify the connection parameters to use for the -T extended test
40 mode. If provided, any Match directives in the configuration
41 file that would apply to the specified user, host, and address
42 will be set before the configuration is written to standard
43 output. The connection parameters are supplied as keyword=value
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -070044 pairs. The keywords are M-bM-^@M-^\userM-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\hostM-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\laddrM-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\lportM-bM-^@M-^], and
45 M-bM-^@M-^\addrM-bM-^@M-^]. All are required and may be supplied in any order,
46 either with multiple -C options or as a comma-separated list.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -080047
48 -c host_certificate_file
49 Specifies a path to a certificate file to identify sshd during
50 key exchange. The certificate file must match a host key file
51 specified using the -h option or the HostKey configuration
52 directive.
53
54 -D When this option is specified, sshd will not detach and does not
55 become a daemon. This allows easy monitoring of sshd.
56
57 -d Debug mode. The server sends verbose debug output to standard
58 error, and does not put itself in the background. The server
59 also will not fork and will only process one connection. This
60 option is only intended for debugging for the server. Multiple
61 -d options increase the debugging level. Maximum is 3.
62
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -070063 -E log_file
64 Append debug logs to log_file instead of the system log.
65
66 -e Write debug logs to standard error instead of the system log.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -080067
68 -f config_file
69 Specifies the name of the configuration file. The default is
70 /etc/ssh/sshd_config. sshd refuses to start if there is no
71 configuration file.
72
73 -g login_grace_time
74 Gives the grace time for clients to authenticate themselves
75 (default 120 seconds). If the client fails to authenticate the
76 user within this many seconds, the server disconnects and exits.
77 A value of zero indicates no limit.
78
79 -h host_key_file
80 Specifies a file from which a host key is read. This option must
81 be given if sshd is not run as root (as the normal host key files
82 are normally not readable by anyone but root). The default is
83 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key for protocol version 1, and
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -070084 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key, /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.
85 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key and /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key for
86 protocol version 2. It is possible to have multiple host key
87 files for the different protocol versions and host key
88 algorithms.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -080089
90 -i Specifies that sshd is being run from inetd(8). sshd is normally
91 not run from inetd because it needs to generate the server key
92 before it can respond to the client, and this may take tens of
93 seconds. Clients would have to wait too long if the key was
94 regenerated every time. However, with small key sizes (e.g. 512)
95 using sshd from inetd may be feasible.
96
97 -k key_gen_time
98 Specifies how often the ephemeral protocol version 1 server key
99 is regenerated (default 3600 seconds, or one hour). The
100 motivation for regenerating the key fairly often is that the key
101 is not stored anywhere, and after about an hour it becomes
102 impossible to recover the key for decrypting intercepted
103 communications even if the machine is cracked into or physically
104 seized. A value of zero indicates that the key will never be
105 regenerated.
106
107 -o option
108 Can be used to give options in the format used in the
109 configuration file. This is useful for specifying options for
110 which there is no separate command-line flag. For full details
111 of the options, and their values, see sshd_config(5).
112
113 -p port
114 Specifies the port on which the server listens for connections
115 (default 22). Multiple port options are permitted. Ports
116 specified in the configuration file with the Port option are
117 ignored when a command-line port is specified. Ports specified
118 using the ListenAddress option override command-line ports.
119
120 -q Quiet mode. Nothing is sent to the system log. Normally the
121 beginning, authentication, and termination of each connection is
122 logged.
123
124 -T Extended test mode. Check the validity of the configuration
125 file, output the effective configuration to stdout and then exit.
126 Optionally, Match rules may be applied by specifying the
127 connection parameters using one or more -C options.
128
129 -t Test mode. Only check the validity of the configuration file and
130 sanity of the keys. This is useful for updating sshd reliably as
131 configuration options may change.
132
133 -u len This option is used to specify the size of the field in the utmp
134 structure that holds the remote host name. If the resolved host
135 name is longer than len, the dotted decimal value will be used
136 instead. This allows hosts with very long host names that
137 overflow this field to still be uniquely identified. Specifying
138 -u0 indicates that only dotted decimal addresses should be put
139 into the utmp file. -u0 may also be used to prevent sshd from
140 making DNS requests unless the authentication mechanism or
141 configuration requires it. Authentication mechanisms that may
142 require DNS include RhostsRSAAuthentication,
143 HostbasedAuthentication, and using a from="pattern-list" option
144 in a key file. Configuration options that require DNS include
145 using a USER@HOST pattern in AllowUsers or DenyUsers.
146
147AUTHENTICATION
148 The OpenSSH SSH daemon supports SSH protocols 1 and 2. The default is to
149 use protocol 2 only, though this can be changed via the Protocol option
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700150 in sshd_config(5). Protocol 2 supports DSA, ECDSA, Ed25519 and RSA keys;
151 protocol 1 only supports RSA keys. For both protocols, each host has a
152 host-specific key, normally 2048 bits, used to identify the host.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800153
154 Forward security for protocol 1 is provided through an additional server
155 key, normally 768 bits, generated when the server starts. This key is
156 normally regenerated every hour if it has been used, and is never stored
157 on disk. Whenever a client connects, the daemon responds with its public
158 host and server keys. The client compares the RSA host key against its
159 own database to verify that it has not changed. The client then
160 generates a 256-bit random number. It encrypts this random number using
161 both the host key and the server key, and sends the encrypted number to
162 the server. Both sides then use this random number as a session key
163 which is used to encrypt all further communications in the session. The
164 rest of the session is encrypted using a conventional cipher, currently
165 Blowfish or 3DES, with 3DES being used by default. The client selects
166 the encryption algorithm to use from those offered by the server.
167
168 For protocol 2, forward security is provided through a Diffie-Hellman key
169 agreement. This key agreement results in a shared session key. The rest
170 of the session is encrypted using a symmetric cipher, currently 128-bit
171 AES, Blowfish, 3DES, CAST128, Arcfour, 192-bit AES, or 256-bit AES. The
172 client selects the encryption algorithm to use from those offered by the
173 server. Additionally, session integrity is provided through a
174 cryptographic message authentication code (hmac-md5, hmac-sha1, umac-64,
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700175 umac-128, hmac-ripemd160, hmac-sha2-256 or hmac-sha2-512).
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800176
177 Finally, the server and the client enter an authentication dialog. The
178 client tries to authenticate itself using host-based authentication,
179 public key authentication, challenge-response authentication, or password
180 authentication.
181
182 Regardless of the authentication type, the account is checked to ensure
183 that it is accessible. An account is not accessible if it is locked,
184 listed in DenyUsers or its group is listed in DenyGroups . The
185 definition of a locked account is system dependant. Some platforms have
186 their own account database (eg AIX) and some modify the passwd field (
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700187 M-bM-^@M-^X*LK*M-bM-^@M-^Y on Solaris and UnixWare, M-bM-^@M-^X*M-bM-^@M-^Y on HP-UX, containing M-bM-^@M-^XNologinM-bM-^@M-^Y on
188 Tru64, a leading M-bM-^@M-^X*LOCKED*M-bM-^@M-^Y on FreeBSD and a leading M-bM-^@M-^X!M-bM-^@M-^Y on most
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800189 Linuxes). If there is a requirement to disable password authentication
190 for the account while allowing still public-key, then the passwd field
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700191 should be set to something other than these values (eg M-bM-^@M-^XNPM-bM-^@M-^Y or M-bM-^@M-^X*NP*M-bM-^@M-^Y ).
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800192
193 If the client successfully authenticates itself, a dialog for preparing
194 the session is entered. At this time the client may request things like
195 allocating a pseudo-tty, forwarding X11 connections, forwarding TCP
196 connections, or forwarding the authentication agent connection over the
197 secure channel.
198
199 After this, the client either requests a shell or execution of a command.
200 The sides then enter session mode. In this mode, either side may send
201 data at any time, and such data is forwarded to/from the shell or command
202 on the server side, and the user terminal in the client side.
203
204 When the user program terminates and all forwarded X11 and other
205 connections have been closed, the server sends command exit status to the
206 client, and both sides exit.
207
208LOGIN PROCESS
209 When a user successfully logs in, sshd does the following:
210
211 1. If the login is on a tty, and no command has been specified,
212 prints last login time and /etc/motd (unless prevented in the
213 configuration file or by ~/.hushlogin; see the FILES section).
214
215 2. If the login is on a tty, records login time.
216
217 3. Checks /etc/nologin; if it exists, prints contents and quits
218 (unless root).
219
220 4. Changes to run with normal user privileges.
221
222 5. Sets up basic environment.
223
224 6. Reads the file ~/.ssh/environment, if it exists, and users are
225 allowed to change their environment. See the
226 PermitUserEnvironment option in sshd_config(5).
227
228 7. Changes to user's home directory.
229
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700230 8. If ~/.ssh/rc exists and the sshd_config(5) PermitUserRC option
231 is set, runs it; else if /etc/ssh/sshrc exists, runs it;
232 otherwise runs xauth. The M-bM-^@M-^\rcM-bM-^@M-^] files are given the X11
233 authentication protocol and cookie in standard input. See
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800234 SSHRC, below.
235
236 9. Runs user's shell or command.
237
238SSHRC
239 If the file ~/.ssh/rc exists, sh(1) runs it after reading the environment
240 files but before starting the user's shell or command. It must not
241 produce any output on stdout; stderr must be used instead. If X11
242 forwarding is in use, it will receive the "proto cookie" pair in its
243 standard input (and DISPLAY in its environment). The script must call
244 xauth(1) because sshd will not run xauth automatically to add X11
245 cookies.
246
247 The primary purpose of this file is to run any initialization routines
248 which may be needed before the user's home directory becomes accessible;
249 AFS is a particular example of such an environment.
250
251 This file will probably contain some initialization code followed by
252 something similar to:
253
254 if read proto cookie && [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
255 if [ `echo $DISPLAY | cut -c1-10` = 'localhost:' ]; then
256 # X11UseLocalhost=yes
257 echo add unix:`echo $DISPLAY |
258 cut -c11-` $proto $cookie
259 else
260 # X11UseLocalhost=no
261 echo add $DISPLAY $proto $cookie
262 fi | xauth -q -
263 fi
264
265 If this file does not exist, /etc/ssh/sshrc is run, and if that does not
266 exist either, xauth is used to add the cookie.
267
268AUTHORIZED_KEYS FILE FORMAT
269 AuthorizedKeysFile specifies the files containing public keys for public
270 key authentication; if none is specified, the default is
271 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys and ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2. Each line of the
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700272 file contains one key (empty lines and lines starting with a M-bM-^@M-^X#M-bM-^@M-^Y are
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800273 ignored as comments). Protocol 1 public keys consist of the following
274 space-separated fields: options, bits, exponent, modulus, comment.
275 Protocol 2 public key consist of: options, keytype, base64-encoded key,
276 comment. The options field is optional; its presence is determined by
277 whether the line starts with a number or not (the options field never
278 starts with a number). The bits, exponent, modulus, and comment fields
279 give the RSA key for protocol version 1; the comment field is not used
280 for anything (but may be convenient for the user to identify the key).
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700281 For protocol version 2 the keytype is M-bM-^@M-^\ecdsa-sha2-nistp256M-bM-^@M-^],
282 M-bM-^@M-^\ecdsa-sha2-nistp384M-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\ecdsa-sha2-nistp521M-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\ssh-ed25519M-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\ssh-dssM-bM-^@M-^] or
283 M-bM-^@M-^\ssh-rsaM-bM-^@M-^].
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800284
285 Note that lines in this file are usually several hundred bytes long
286 (because of the size of the public key encoding) up to a limit of 8
287 kilobytes, which permits DSA keys up to 8 kilobits and RSA keys up to 16
288 kilobits. You don't want to type them in; instead, copy the
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700289 identity.pub, id_dsa.pub, id_ecdsa.pub, id_ed25519.pub, or the id_rsa.pub
290 file and edit it.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800291
292 sshd enforces a minimum RSA key modulus size for protocol 1 and protocol
293 2 keys of 768 bits.
294
295 The options (if present) consist of comma-separated option
296 specifications. No spaces are permitted, except within double quotes.
297 The following option specifications are supported (note that option
298 keywords are case-insensitive):
299
300 cert-authority
301 Specifies that the listed key is a certification authority (CA)
302 that is trusted to validate signed certificates for user
303 authentication.
304
305 Certificates may encode access restrictions similar to these key
306 options. If both certificate restrictions and key options are
307 present, the most restrictive union of the two is applied.
308
309 command="command"
310 Specifies that the command is executed whenever this key is used
311 for authentication. The command supplied by the user (if any) is
312 ignored. The command is run on a pty if the client requests a
313 pty; otherwise it is run without a tty. If an 8-bit clean
314 channel is required, one must not request a pty or should specify
315 no-pty. A quote may be included in the command by quoting it
316 with a backslash. This option might be useful to restrict
317 certain public keys to perform just a specific operation. An
318 example might be a key that permits remote backups but nothing
319 else. Note that the client may specify TCP and/or X11 forwarding
320 unless they are explicitly prohibited. The command originally
321 supplied by the client is available in the SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND
322 environment variable. Note that this option applies to shell,
323 command or subsystem execution. Also note that this command may
324 be superseded by either a sshd_config(5) ForceCommand directive
325 or a command embedded in a certificate.
326
327 environment="NAME=value"
328 Specifies that the string is to be added to the environment when
329 logging in using this key. Environment variables set this way
330 override other default environment values. Multiple options of
331 this type are permitted. Environment processing is disabled by
332 default and is controlled via the PermitUserEnvironment option.
333 This option is automatically disabled if UseLogin is enabled.
334
335 from="pattern-list"
336 Specifies that in addition to public key authentication, either
337 the canonical name of the remote host or its IP address must be
338 present in the comma-separated list of patterns. See PATTERNS in
339 ssh_config(5) for more information on patterns.
340
341 In addition to the wildcard matching that may be applied to
342 hostnames or addresses, a from stanza may match IP addresses
343 using CIDR address/masklen notation.
344
345 The purpose of this option is to optionally increase security:
346 public key authentication by itself does not trust the network or
347 name servers or anything (but the key); however, if somebody
348 somehow steals the key, the key permits an intruder to log in
349 from anywhere in the world. This additional option makes using a
350 stolen key more difficult (name servers and/or routers would have
351 to be compromised in addition to just the key).
352
353 no-agent-forwarding
354 Forbids authentication agent forwarding when this key is used for
355 authentication.
356
357 no-port-forwarding
358 Forbids TCP forwarding when this key is used for authentication.
359 Any port forward requests by the client will return an error.
360 This might be used, e.g. in connection with the command option.
361
362 no-pty Prevents tty allocation (a request to allocate a pty will fail).
363
364 no-user-rc
365 Disables execution of ~/.ssh/rc.
366
367 no-X11-forwarding
368 Forbids X11 forwarding when this key is used for authentication.
369 Any X11 forward requests by the client will return an error.
370
371 permitopen="host:port"
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700372 Limit local port forwarding with ssh(1) -L such that it may only
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800373 connect to the specified host and port. IPv6 addresses can be
374 specified by enclosing the address in square brackets. Multiple
375 permitopen options may be applied separated by commas. No
376 pattern matching is performed on the specified hostnames, they
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700377 must be literal domains or addresses. A port specification of *
378 matches any port.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800379
380 principals="principals"
381 On a cert-authority line, specifies allowed principals for
382 certificate authentication as a comma-separated list. At least
383 one name from the list must appear in the certificate's list of
384 principals for the certificate to be accepted. This option is
385 ignored for keys that are not marked as trusted certificate
386 signers using the cert-authority option.
387
388 tunnel="n"
389 Force a tun(4) device on the server. Without this option, the
390 next available device will be used if the client requests a
391 tunnel.
392
393 An example authorized_keys file:
394
395 # Comments allowed at start of line
396 ssh-rsa AAAAB3Nza...LiPk== user@example.net
397 from="*.sales.example.net,!pc.sales.example.net" ssh-rsa
398 AAAAB2...19Q== john@example.net
399 command="dump /home",no-pty,no-port-forwarding ssh-dss
400 AAAAC3...51R== example.net
401 permitopen="192.0.2.1:80",permitopen="192.0.2.2:25" ssh-dss
402 AAAAB5...21S==
403 tunnel="0",command="sh /etc/netstart tun0" ssh-rsa AAAA...==
404 jane@example.net
405
406SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS FILE FORMAT
407 The /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts and ~/.ssh/known_hosts files contain host
408 public keys for all known hosts. The global file should be prepared by
409 the administrator (optional), and the per-user file is maintained
410 automatically: whenever the user connects from an unknown host, its key
411 is added to the per-user file.
412
413 Each line in these files contains the following fields: markers
414 (optional), hostnames, bits, exponent, modulus, comment. The fields are
415 separated by spaces.
416
417 The marker is optional, but if it is present then it must be one of
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700418 M-bM-^@M-^\@cert-authorityM-bM-^@M-^], to indicate that the line contains a certification
419 authority (CA) key, or M-bM-^@M-^\@revokedM-bM-^@M-^], to indicate that the key contained on
420 the line is revoked and must not ever be accepted. Only one marker
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800421 should be used on a key line.
422
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700423 Hostnames is a comma-separated list of patterns (M-bM-^@M-^X*M-bM-^@M-^Y and M-bM-^@M-^X?M-bM-^@M-^Y act as
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800424 wildcards); each pattern in turn is matched against the canonical host
425 name (when authenticating a client) or against the user-supplied name
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700426 (when authenticating a server). A pattern may also be preceded by M-bM-^@M-^X!M-bM-^@M-^Y to
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800427 indicate negation: if the host name matches a negated pattern, it is not
428 accepted (by that line) even if it matched another pattern on the line.
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700429 A hostname or address may optionally be enclosed within M-bM-^@M-^X[M-bM-^@M-^Y and M-bM-^@M-^X]M-bM-^@M-^Y
430 brackets then followed by M-bM-^@M-^X:M-bM-^@M-^Y and a non-standard port number.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800431
432 Alternately, hostnames may be stored in a hashed form which hides host
433 names and addresses should the file's contents be disclosed. Hashed
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700434 hostnames start with a M-bM-^@M-^X|M-bM-^@M-^Y character. Only one hashed hostname may
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800435 appear on a single line and none of the above negation or wildcard
436 operators may be applied.
437
438 Bits, exponent, and modulus are taken directly from the RSA host key;
439 they can be obtained, for example, from /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub. The
440 optional comment field continues to the end of the line, and is not used.
441
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700442 Lines starting with M-bM-^@M-^X#M-bM-^@M-^Y and empty lines are ignored as comments.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800443
444 When performing host authentication, authentication is accepted if any
445 matching line has the proper key; either one that matches exactly or, if
446 the server has presented a certificate for authentication, the key of the
447 certification authority that signed the certificate. For a key to be
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700448 trusted as a certification authority, it must use the M-bM-^@M-^\@cert-authorityM-bM-^@M-^]
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800449 marker described above.
450
451 The known hosts file also provides a facility to mark keys as revoked,
452 for example when it is known that the associated private key has been
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700453 stolen. Revoked keys are specified by including the M-bM-^@M-^\@revokedM-bM-^@M-^] marker at
454 the beginning of the key line, and are never accepted for authentication
455 or as certification authorities, but instead will produce a warning from
456 ssh(1) when they are encountered.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800457
458 It is permissible (but not recommended) to have several lines or
459 different host keys for the same names. This will inevitably happen when
460 short forms of host names from different domains are put in the file. It
461 is possible that the files contain conflicting information;
462 authentication is accepted if valid information can be found from either
463 file.
464
465 Note that the lines in these files are typically hundreds of characters
466 long, and you definitely don't want to type in the host keys by hand.
467 Rather, generate them by a script, ssh-keyscan(1) or by taking
468 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub and adding the host names at the front.
469 ssh-keygen(1) also offers some basic automated editing for
470 ~/.ssh/known_hosts including removing hosts matching a host name and
471 converting all host names to their hashed representations.
472
473 An example ssh_known_hosts file:
474
475 # Comments allowed at start of line
476 closenet,...,192.0.2.53 1024 37 159...93 closenet.example.net
477 cvs.example.net,192.0.2.10 ssh-rsa AAAA1234.....=
478 # A hashed hostname
479 |1|JfKTdBh7rNbXkVAQCRp4OQoPfmI=|USECr3SWf1JUPsms5AqfD5QfxkM= ssh-rsa
480 AAAA1234.....=
481 # A revoked key
482 @revoked * ssh-rsa AAAAB5W...
483 # A CA key, accepted for any host in *.mydomain.com or *.mydomain.org
484 @cert-authority *.mydomain.org,*.mydomain.com ssh-rsa AAAAB5W...
485
486FILES
487 ~/.hushlogin
488 This file is used to suppress printing the last login time and
489 /etc/motd, if PrintLastLog and PrintMotd, respectively, are
490 enabled. It does not suppress printing of the banner specified
491 by Banner.
492
493 ~/.rhosts
494 This file is used for host-based authentication (see ssh(1) for
495 more information). On some machines this file may need to be
496 world-readable if the user's home directory is on an NFS
497 partition, because sshd reads it as root. Additionally, this
498 file must be owned by the user, and must not have write
499 permissions for anyone else. The recommended permission for most
500 machines is read/write for the user, and not accessible by
501 others.
502
503 ~/.shosts
504 This file is used in exactly the same way as .rhosts, but allows
505 host-based authentication without permitting login with
506 rlogin/rsh.
507
508 ~/.ssh/
509 This directory is the default location for all user-specific
510 configuration and authentication information. There is no
511 general requirement to keep the entire contents of this directory
512 secret, but the recommended permissions are read/write/execute
513 for the user, and not accessible by others.
514
515 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700516 Lists the public keys (DSA, ECDSA, Ed25519, RSA) that can be used
517 for logging in as this user. The format of this file is
518 described above. The content of the file is not highly
519 sensitive, but the recommended permissions are read/write for the
520 user, and not accessible by others.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800521
522 If this file, the ~/.ssh directory, or the user's home directory
523 are writable by other users, then the file could be modified or
524 replaced by unauthorized users. In this case, sshd will not
525 allow it to be used unless the StrictModes option has been set to
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700526 M-bM-^@M-^\noM-bM-^@M-^].
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800527
528 ~/.ssh/environment
529 This file is read into the environment at login (if it exists).
530 It can only contain empty lines, comment lines (that start with
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700531 M-bM-^@M-^X#M-bM-^@M-^Y), and assignment lines of the form name=value. The file
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800532 should be writable only by the user; it need not be readable by
533 anyone else. Environment processing is disabled by default and
534 is controlled via the PermitUserEnvironment option.
535
536 ~/.ssh/known_hosts
537 Contains a list of host keys for all hosts the user has logged
538 into that are not already in the systemwide list of known host
539 keys. The format of this file is described above. This file
540 should be writable only by root/the owner and can, but need not
541 be, world-readable.
542
543 ~/.ssh/rc
544 Contains initialization routines to be run before the user's home
545 directory becomes accessible. This file should be writable only
546 by the user, and need not be readable by anyone else.
547
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800548 /etc/hosts.equiv
549 This file is for host-based authentication (see ssh(1)). It
550 should only be writable by root.
551
552 /etc/moduli
553 Contains Diffie-Hellman groups used for the "Diffie-Hellman Group
554 Exchange". The file format is described in moduli(5).
555
556 /etc/motd
557 See motd(5).
558
559 /etc/nologin
560 If this file exists, sshd refuses to let anyone except root log
561 in. The contents of the file are displayed to anyone trying to
562 log in, and non-root connections are refused. The file should be
563 world-readable.
564
565 /etc/shosts.equiv
566 This file is used in exactly the same way as hosts.equiv, but
567 allows host-based authentication without permitting login with
568 rlogin/rsh.
569
570 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
571 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
572 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700573 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800574 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700575 These files contain the private parts of the host keys. These
576 files should only be owned by root, readable only by root, and
577 not accessible to others. Note that sshd does not start if these
578 files are group/world-accessible.
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800579
580 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub
581 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub
582 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700583 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800584 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700585 These files contain the public parts of the host keys. These
586 files should be world-readable but writable only by root. Their
587 contents should match the respective private parts. These files
588 are not really used for anything; they are provided for the
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800589 convenience of the user so their contents can be copied to known
590 hosts files. These files are created using ssh-keygen(1).
591
592 /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
593 Systemwide list of known host keys. This file should be prepared
594 by the system administrator to contain the public host keys of
595 all machines in the organization. The format of this file is
596 described above. This file should be writable only by root/the
597 owner and should be world-readable.
598
599 /etc/ssh/sshd_config
600 Contains configuration data for sshd. The file format and
601 configuration options are described in sshd_config(5).
602
603 /etc/ssh/sshrc
604 Similar to ~/.ssh/rc, it can be used to specify machine-specific
605 login-time initializations globally. This file should be
606 writable only by root, and should be world-readable.
607
608 /var/empty
609 chroot(2) directory used by sshd during privilege separation in
610 the pre-authentication phase. The directory should not contain
611 any files and must be owned by root and not group or world-
612 writable.
613
614 /var/run/sshd.pid
615 Contains the process ID of the sshd listening for connections (if
616 there are several daemons running concurrently for different
617 ports, this contains the process ID of the one started last).
618 The content of this file is not sensitive; it can be world-
619 readable.
620
621SEE ALSO
622 scp(1), sftp(1), ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-agent(1), ssh-keygen(1),
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700623 ssh-keyscan(1), chroot(2), login.conf(5), moduli(5), sshd_config(5),
624 inetd(8), sftp-server(8)
Greg Hartmanbd77cf72015-02-25 13:21:06 -0800625
626AUTHORS
627 OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free ssh 1.2.12 release by
628 Tatu Ylonen. Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos, Theo
629 de Raadt and Dug Song removed many bugs, re-added newer features and
630 created OpenSSH. Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH protocol
631 versions 1.5 and 2.0. Niels Provos and Markus Friedl contributed support
632 for privilege separation.
633
Adam Langleyd0592972015-03-30 14:49:51 -0700634OpenBSD 5.7 November 15, 2014 OpenBSD 5.7