Well, after corrupting my Damn Small Linux, I am now installing a fresh copy of Debian.

My question is, what is the fastest way to get my box as a SSH server up and running?

I also think I need to do the following:

A) So far, I know that I need to have SSH installed, how do I do that with Debian?

B) Once I modify the sshd_psswd file, how or do I need to generate keys?

C) Am I missing anything?

If I were interested in learning Debian, I think I'd bookmark, and read through, the following two resources:

• Debian Wiki
• Debian Reference

But, I don't know Debian. That's just how I would approach it. I am sure you can figure out how to operate their package manager by reading those.

If you're referring to host identification keys, they're generated for you automatically the first time you launch sshd. If you're referring to rsa/dsa keys (i.e. for Pubkey Authentication), that requires a little more effort. Search the 'net for "ssh pubkey authentication". Setting these up are only necessary if you intend to authenticate that way.

We don't know. Get started on the right foot, and read that documentation. It will actually save you lots of time in the long run.

Ok, I got the service installed, and I modified the sshd_config file, but the problem is, I can't ssh in. What could cause this?

Never heard of a sshd_psswd file.

8,997 different things. Is SSHD running?

Opps, I meant the sshd_config file.

How do I start SSH? I keep trying to do /etc/init.d/ssh start as root, but all I get is

Starting OpenBSD Secure Shell server: sshdserver:/etc/init.d

What do
(as root) say

I just noticed that when I load the system, I get the following prob:

Starting OpenBSD Secure Shell server: sshdCould not load host key: /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
Disabling protocol version 1. Could not load host key


Concerning ps -ef | grep ssh, I get

root 1822 1 0 22:05 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/sshd
root 1954 1949 0 22:09 tty1 00:00:00 grep shh

netstat -anp | grep ssh

tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:8812 0.0.0.0:* Listen 1822/sshd

Now I see that we can see that I moved my port 22 to 8812

Disabling protocol 1 is good. 2 is better. What's the error when you try to SSH in?

When I do "ssh root@192.168.0.196 -p 8812" on my mac, I get "ssh: connect to host 192.168.0.196 port 8812: Connection refused"

I did try running ssh -v start and the last line gave me a "ssh: start: Name or service not known"

Also, what should my rules in sshd_config look like if I plan to do user name and password log in? I did however manage to disable the protocol 1 stufff by placing a # in front.

Well I solved my prob. I guess I was SSHing the wrong IP, so I was SSHing my mac, where the firewall was stoping me all the time. Thanks guys!