SSHD Help?

[Greg Barniskis]

Huy Ton That wrote:
> I am sure I am lacking the technical knowledge to get this running but.  I
> setup (more like started) the sshd daemon.  Now I have this system setup at
> home and am just using it for experimenting.  When I try to SSH into it, it
> queries me for my user name, in which case I am logging in as root.  I key
> in roots password (is this password the same as the main root password?) and
> it returns permission denied, please try again.
> 
> I'm guessing I am not asking the right questions but I was under the
> assumption that the password would be the same as root or whatever user I'm
> trying to login?  Any tutorials?  I'm going crazy :(.

As part of the default security posture of sshd, root is not allowed 
to log in remotely, only on the console.

It is best practice to log in as a regular user (who is a member of 
the wheel group) and then use su (or sudo) to perform tasks that 
require root privilege. This practice results in better logging of 
"who did what when".

If you really want to allow remote ssh root logins (seriously, you 
probably don't ;) this can be achieved. See:


man sshd_config




-- 
Greg Barniskis, Computer Systems Integrator
South Central Library System (SCLS)
Library Interchange Network (LINK)
<gregb at scls.lib.wi.us>, (608) 266-6348