how to restrict number of sftp connections.
 

Hi all,

if i want user should`t have more than 20 sftp connections to a server,
is there any way we can limit no.of connections to a particular user on the server using ssh configuration.

Thanks & Regards,
Kiran

From the sshd_config(5) manpages:
This will only help if the user is opening multiple connections from the same IP.

I am getting below error if i try with Max sessions option.
any idea why ssh is failing to start?

[root@zin50lte-build ~]# ssh -V
OpenSSH_3.9p1, OpenSSL 0.9.7a Feb 19 2003
[root@zin50lte-build ~]#
[root@zin50lte-build ~]# /etc/init.d/sshd start
Starting sshd:/etc/ssh/sshd_config: line 105: Bad configuration option: MaxSessions
/etc/ssh/sshd_config: terminating, 1 bad configuration options
[FAILED]
Thanks,
Kiran

The changelog in the OpenSSH 5.1 release notes contains this entry:...so it sounds like your version simply doesn't come with that option.

That said, have you considered using iptables to limit the number of connections which can be started from the same IP? You could do it with the connlimit match using something like (example):...but yeah, this doesn't let you limit per user (only per client IP).

You can write custom wrapper script, who will be checking connections and their number on the SSH port, if reach max number - print some banner (connection refused : max number reached), if not - print some welcome banner.

My fault - I should have asked your OpenSSH version. (In my defense, please include your distro / version when you start a thread next time.)