Remote access to Freebsd server

[Kurt Buff]

On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 09:40, Matthew Seaman
<m.seaman at infracaninophile.co.uk> wrote:
> On 13/04/2011 16:37, afiddler10 wrote:

<snip problem description and sage advice>

> Edit the file /etc/rc.conf and add the line:
>
> sshd_enable="YES"
>
> Then run this command as root:
>
> # /etc/rc.d/sshd start
>
> (you only need to do that as a one-off -- adding the line to rc.conf
> means the daemon will be started automatically on reboot from now on)
>
> Then you can use a SSH client from windows to remote login to your
> FreeBSD box.  If you need a client, try putty from
>
> http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
>
> Nb. by default, you won't be able to SSH in as root -- so set yourself
> up a normal user account, add it to the wheel group and then use su(1)
> once you've logged in.  As ever, the Handbook is your friend for
> instructions on how to do this sort of stuff.

In the interest of preventing newb pain:

     Please note that the entry for /etc/rc.conf  must be exact.

In particular, *do not* miss either of the quote marks, or your
machine will hang at next boot, and force you to boot into single user
mode to recover from it by adding the missing quote mark and booting
again. This is not the end of the world, but until you figure it out,
it can induce feelings of fear, nausea, helplessness and acute
embarrassment.

However, about the third time you've done it, and recovered from it by
your own efforts, it's no longer a big thing.

Kurt