Example of configuring OpenSSH

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Example of configuring OpenSSH

Normally, when using native telnet, rlogin, or ftp your login ID, password and tramsmitted data is sent over the network in an clear, un-encrypted form. Network sniffers anywhere in between the client and server can steal your Login information and/or data transferred in your session.

OpenSSH encrypts all traffic (including login ID and passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other network-level attacks. Additionally, OpenSSH provides a myriad of secure tunneling capabilities, as well as a variety of authentication methods.

Example Environment Description

In this example we have a FreeBSD system which we will call the host. This is the system that remote users want to have login access to.

We have an Remote FreeBSD system which is located some where on the public internet, we will call this the FBSD-client.

We also have an Remote MS/windows system which is located some where on the public internet, we will call this the Win-client.

This example details the encrypted Host/Client key with passphrase authentication method. This method gives the maximum protection possible utilizing ssh.

Host Setup Steps

1. Edit /etc/rc.conf and add this statement

        sshd_enable="YES"
    Make sure your firewall allows port 22 in from the public internet.
    Reboot your system to activate sshd and login as root.
    If this is your first time booting with sshd you will have to
    create the host keys.
    sshd will show you this on the first sshd boot only.

   ====================================================
   Type a full screen full of random junk to unblock
   it and remember to finish with <enter>. This will
   timeout in 300 seconds, but waiting for
   the timeout without typing junk may make the
   entropy source deliver predictable output.
   Just hit <enter> for fast+insecure startup.
   ====================================================
   kern.random.sys.seeded: 1 -> 0
   qkcir83,2jsn40pl722jjbqok ---- this is the example junk entered
   Generating public/private rsa1 key pair.
   Your identification has been saved in /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.
   Your public key has been saved in /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub.
   The key fingerprint is:
   ed:5d:97:dc:49:98:36:66:fc root@domainname
   Generating public/private dsa key pair.
   Your identification has been saved in /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.
   Your public key has been saved in /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub.
   The key fingerprint is:
   67:e7:90:04:0e:27:2e:d2:97:6a root@a1poweruser.com
   Generating public/private rsa key pair.
   Your identification has been saved in /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.
   Your public key has been saved in /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub.
   The key fingerprint is:
   96:db:50:5c:9e:69:88:26:28:54 root@domainname

2. If you do a "ps ax" command you will see sshd as one

   of the running tasks.

3. Using adduser or pw command create a normal user account.

   For this example we will use bob as the host user account name.

4. Hit alt/F2 at same time to open second session and login using bob.

   Run this command ssh-keygen -t rsa

   Just hit enter to take default location and file name
   No need to enter a pass phrase for the host user here,
   just hit enter 2 times.
   This is what you will see

   Generating public/private rsa key pair.
   Enter file in which to save the key (/bob/.ssh/id_rsa):
   Created directory '/bob/.ssh'.
   Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
   Enter same passphrase again:
   Your identification has been saved in /bob/.ssh/id_rsa.
   Your public key has been saved in /bob/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
   The key fingerprint is:
   e7:e6:8f:d3:b1:b4:08:27:09:d2 bob@domainname

5. If you want to use the Host 'root' account to initiate a ssh

   session with an remote system you have to perform step 4 above.
   If you want to do remote ssh login to this Host as user ‘root’, you
   have to edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config on the this Host and change;

   #PermitRootLogin no  to  PermitRootLogin yes 

   Then /etc/rc.d/sshd reload  

   to make sshd task reread it’s sshd_config file. 

FBSD-client Setup Steps

1. Using adduser or pw command create a normal user account.

  For this example we will use remotetom as the user account name.

2. Login using remotetom.

  Run this command ssh-keygen -t rsa

3. Just hit enter to take default location and file name.

  At the "Enter a passphrase prompt" [enter one and write it down, 
  because it will be needed for ssh login to the host].
  This is what you will see

  Generating public/private rsa key pair.
  Enter file in which to save the key (/remotetom/.ssh/id_rsa):
  Created directory '/remotetom/.ssh'.
  Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
  Enter same passphrase again:
  Your identification has been saved in /remotetom/.ssh/id_rsa.
  Your public key has been saved in /remotetom/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
  The key fingerprint is:
  e7:e6:8f:d3:b1:b4:08:27:09:56:de:d2 tom@domainname 

4. The Public key file you just created /remotetom/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

  has to be sent to the Host system. On the host system rename it
  to authorized_keys2 and put it into the home directory of the 
  user setup earlier. In this case ~/bob/.ssh/authorized_keys2. 

5. To ssh to the host, enter this ssh hostname or ssh host-ip-address

 The first time you ssh to the Host you will get these messages.
 Answer yes if you are sure this first connection is with your
 targeted host. Enter exit to terminate session.

  # /home/remotetom/.ssh >ssh 10.0.10.2
  The authenticity of host '10.0.10.2 (10.0.10.2)' can't be established.
  DSA key fingerprint is 04:0e:27:2e:d2:97:9d:7b:62:7e:c9:32:6a.
  Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
  Warning: Permanently added '10.0.10.2' (DSA) to list of known hosts.
  Enter passphrase for key /remotetom/.ssh/id_rsa

  This is where you enter the pass phrase you entered while running 
  ssh-keygen on this remote client. (remotetom)

6. You are now logged into the Host account bob.

  Every time you ssh login again you will just get this prompt

  Enter passphrase for key /remotetom/.ssh/id_rsa

7. At this point the Host user bob can login from Host console, or using telnet from a local LAN machine, or from the public internet if your host firewall has port 23 open. If this user is to be only allowed remote ssh client access you can use vipw command to edit the system’s master password file and star out his encrypted password. This will deny login from anywhere except remotebob

bob:$1$FXF.CEpf:1001:31::0:0:remote ssh only #:/home/bob:/bin/csh

change it to look like this

bob:*:1001:31::0:0:remote ssh only #:/home/bob:/bin/csh

8. At this point, if remotebob is a notebook pc he can ssh login from any place in the world. If remotebob is always working from home using ip address 192.168.1.32 you can add another level of security by restricting his login to come from that ip address. Do that by adding this statement to the Host /etc/ssh/sshd_config file

AllowUsers bob@192.168.1.32

Using Midnight Commander for SFTP

So far the FBSD-client setup steps above have described how to use native SSH for creating the SSH keys and logging in to the FreeBSD SSHD host. Using ssh's sftp is a command line environment. Meaning you have to know all the FTP commands to navigate around the local and remote directories plus the get and put commands to really move the files between PC's. This can really be a problem for the infrequent ftp user. An command line (I.E. not X) GUI program would make this sftp directory navigation much easier.

We are in luck. The ports system contains 'Midnight commander' an command line GUI program designed after the MS/Windows Norton Commander. It's panel has a 2 up display containing the source and target directory trees. It's normal usage is for navigating around your File system layout. But it has built in functions which allow it to do native ftp and ssh sftp between it self and the remote ftpd or sshd host.

The current version of MC 'IE. Midnight commander' on FreeBSD 6.0 is MC 4.6.0. There is an newer version MC 4.6.1.3 in the ports which may fix the ssh login problem described later.

You still have to run steps 1 through 5 above to create the SSH keys and moved it to the host system and then test ssh sftp login.

After installing MC from the ports system or package system. You start it be entering mc on the command line. This brings up the GUI panel. There are 2 ways to use MC for ftp or sftp.

One way uses the different menu panels and allows you to save the login information as a bookmark. Use F9 to active the "Left file command options right" menus at the top of the MC panel. The left & right pull down menu option have the FTP link & SH link option.

The second way is the short cut method. You just enter an "cd" change directory command on the MC command line.

cd /#sh:user@remote Host

user = the name of the user account on the host. In this example (bob) remote host = the FQDN or IP address of the host

The MC command line at the bottom of the panel asks for the SSH pass phrase. After entering the pass phrase, the remote hosts directory tree is displayed with a heading of the /#sh: command used to launched it.

After entering the pass phrase the MC command line does not clear and ends up containing some left over parts of the SSH message. This is a bug.

Holding down the CTL key while pressing the keyboard letter C and O keys at the same time, 2 times in a role will clear the MC command line.

When your finished doing SSH sftp through MC, terminate the MC SSH session with the remote host by hitting F10 key.

Win-client Setup Steps

There are two MS/Windows SSH client programs. The "Putty" program which provides basic SSH access for Telnet style logins and native FTP access. The "WinSCP3" program which is built on "putty" underling code that provides a Norton commander GUI style SFTP access.

Putty Setup Steps 1. You have to get windows putty program from

  http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
  Download the current windows installer program.
  Currently that’s putty-0.58-installer.exe

2. Run the putty-0.58-installer.exe and take all the defaults.

3. Start/programs/Putty/Puttygen

  This will create your private and public ssh keys
  At the bottom of the window select ssh2-rsa
  Click on generate button.
  After keys are created then enter your pass phrase.
  Then click on ‘save public key’ button.
  Save it to c:/programs/putty/putty_public_rsa_key
  Then click on ‘save private key’ button.
  Save it to c:/programs/putty/putty_private_rsa_key.ppk
  In the window area labeled
  "Public key for pasting into Open SSH authorized_key file"
  Highlight that content and past it into a notepad text
  file named win_authorized_keys2.txt

4. The win_authorized_keys2.txt file has to be sent to the

  Host system and put in the ~/home/bob/.ssh/ directory.
  In this example both the FBSD-client & the WIN-client will
  both use the same Host user account to ssh login to.
  Since the ~/home/bob/.ssh/authorized_keys2 already contains the
  private key for the FBSD-client you have to append the
  win_authorized_keys2.txt content to it.

  cat win_authorized_keys2.txt >> authorized_keys2

  If bob is only to be used by WIN-client then just

  cp win_authorized_keys2.txt authorized_keys2

5. start/programs/putty/putty to run it

  On the bottom of the window click on "never exit"
  Under protocol be sure ssh is clicked.
  On the left side click on ‘SSH’, then in the
  ‘preferred ssh protocol version’ click on ‘2 only’.
  On the left side click on ‘AUTH’, remove check mark from
  ‘Attempt keyboard-interactive auth (SSH-2).
  On the left side click on ‘Sessions’ to return to main login window.
  Enter you host name (IE; your official registered domain name of
  the Host box) or it’s IP address. Then type a name in the saved
  session window and click on save button. Now click on the open button
  at bottom of window to login to the host.

  A ms/dos window will open up and you will receive ‘login as’ prompt 
  Enter bob
  Then you get
  Authenticating with public key "rsa-key-20060209"
  Passphrase for key "rsa-key-20060209":
  At this point enter the pass phrase you entered when you ran 
  Start/programs/Putty/Puttygen to create the rsa keys on
  the client remotetom.

6. You are now logged into you host box using SSH. You have all

  the privileges that host user bob has when you created him.
  Every time you start/programs/putty/putty highlight the name
  of your saved session and click on the load button. This will 
  restore your saved session configuration, then click open to launch.

WinSCP3 Setup Steps

1. You have to get windows WinSCP3 program from

  http://winscp.net/eng/index.php
  Download the windows installer program.
  Currently that's winscp380setup.exe

2. Run winscp380setup.exe and take all the defaults.

3. Start/programs/WinSCP3/keytools/puttygen

  This will create your private and public ssh keys 

  At the bottom of the window select ssh2-rsa
  Click on generate button.

  After keys are created then enter your pass phrase.

  Then click on 'save public key' button.
  Save it to c:/Program Files/WinSCP3/putty_public_rsa_key

  Then click on 'save private key' button.
  Save it to c:/Program Files/WinSCP3/putty_private_rsa_key.ppk

  In the window area labeled 
  "Public key for pasting into Open SSH authorized_key file" 
  Highlight that content and past it into a notepad text file
  named win_authorized_keys2.txt

4. The win_authorized_keys2.txt file has to be sent to the Host system

  and put in the ~/home/bob/.ssh/ directory. In this example both 
  the FBSD-client & the WIN-client will both use the same Host user 
  account to ssh login to. 

  Since the ~/home/bob/.ssh/authorized_keys2 already contains the
  private key for the FBSD-client you have to append the
  win_authorized_keys2.txt content to it.

   cat win_authorized_keys2.txt >> authorized_keys2

  If bob is to only be used by WIN-client then just 
     cp win_authorized_keys2.txt authorized_keys2

5. Start/programs/WinSCP3/WinSCP3

  In the window on the left, click on SSH
  Then for preferred ssh protocol version, click on "2 only"

  In the window on the left, click on session
  Then fill in your host name FQDN or IP address.
  Then the user name of the host account you want to login to.
  Then fill in the location of for the rsa putty key created
  in step 3 above
  c:/Program Files/WinSCP3/putty_private_rsa_key.ppk

  For protocol click on sftp 

  At the bottom of the panel click on the save button
  Accept the name in the pop up window or enter your own
  value and click OK.

  The stored session panel opens, highlight the session name you want 
  to run and click on the load button. This fills in the session panel
  with your saved configuration.

  Click on login button to initiate your sftp session with the host.
  A pop up window will show asking you to enter the pass phrase you 
  entered in "Step 3" above. Click on OK after entering you pass phrase.

  The first time you SSH to the Host you will get these messages. 
  Answer yes if you are sure this first connection is with your
  targeted host.

  The authenticity of host '10.0.10.2 (10.0.10.2)' can't be established.
  DSA key fingerprint is 67:e7:90:04:0e:27:2e:d2.
  Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
  Warning: Permanently added 10.0.10.2 (DSA) to the list of known hosts.

  The GUI Norton commander style panel will display.
  Left side shows the client's directory and the 
  right side shows the Host user accounts directory 

  Every time you start/programs/WinSCP3/WinSCP3 highlight the name 
  of your saved session and click on the load button. This will
  restore your saved session configuration, then click login to launch.