Version: Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.3
Running on VMWare Workstation


When I login to my Linux VM from putty, the third line prompting for password comes only after few seconds.

login as: root
Access denied
root@192.168.0.235's password: ---> It takes around 5 seconds to get this prompt

I managed to fix this issue after several trial and error experiments.
I have to do both Step1 and Step2 mentioned below to fix this issue. Doing either one of Step1 and Step2 won't fix the issue

Step1.
In /etc/ssh/sshd_config file
Comment the line GSSAPIAuthentication yes
and
Remove the comment for the line GSSAPIAuthentication no

It should look like below

grep GSSAPI /etc/ssh/sshd_config
# GSSAPI options
GSSAPIAuthentication no
#GSSAPIAuthentication yes
#GSSAPICleanupCredentials yes
GSSAPICleanupCredentials yes
#GSSAPIStrictAcceptorCheck yes
#GSSAPIKeyExchange no



Step2. In /etc/ssh/sshd_config file
I commented the line UseDNS yes
and then
uncommented "UseDNS no"


and did a restart using /etc/init.d/sshd restart

Soon, I'll have to use DNS functionality for this VM. So, I am worried that the above change ("UseDNS no") will prevent the VM from using the DNS service.
Is there any other workaround to make the login quick?

well either the DNS lookup works or it doesn't. If you need DNS and it doesn't work... then that needs fixing. If you can't do a reverse lookup onf the source IP address, then you should disable that option.

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