Hi there,

I completed a fresh install of RH9 on my LAN. However, when I load my SSH software on my XP machine and connect to the linux box, it automatically accepts the key and voila, i can login.

I thought the whole point of an encryption key was to generate one on the server, and give a copy only to certain clients?

Is there a switch somewhere I need to turn on to stop just anyone connecting?

Any response gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

There are quite a few SSH-related HOWTOs; try a google search for them. The main purpose of an encrypted connection is to ensure that you're not transmitting sensitive data in the clear - for example, with regular telnet and ftp, when you login to another site, your password is transmitted as plain-text, meaning anyone who might be eavesdropping could read your password and anything else you send over that channel.

By default, I think ssh is configured for password-based authentication. If you want to use public and private keys and that stuff, one of the HOWTOs that's out there should help you do it.

Take a look at http://www.linux-corner.net/linux/services/ssh.html