1 .\" $NetBSD: sshd.8,v 1.1.1.2 2009/12/27 01:07:14 christos Exp $
4 .\" Author: Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>
5 .\" Copyright (c) 1995 Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>, Espoo, Finland
6 .\" All rights reserved
8 .\" As far as I am concerned, the code I have written for this software
9 .\" can be used freely for any purpose. Any derived versions of this
10 .\" software must be clearly marked as such, and if the derived work is
11 .\" incompatible with the protocol description in the RFC file, it must be
12 .\" called by a name other than "ssh" or "Secure Shell".
14 .\" Copyright (c) 1999,2000 Markus Friedl. All rights reserved.
15 .\" Copyright (c) 1999 Aaron Campbell. All rights reserved.
16 .\" Copyright (c) 1999 Theo de Raadt. All rights reserved.
18 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
19 .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
21 .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
22 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
23 .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
24 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
25 .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
27 .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
28 .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
29 .\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.
30 .\" IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
31 .\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
32 .\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
33 .\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
34 .\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
35 .\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
36 .\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
38 .\" $OpenBSD: sshd.8,v 1.248 2009/03/26 08:38:39 sobrado Exp $
44 .Nd OpenSSH SSH daemon
50 .Op Fl C Ar connection_spec
51 .Op Fl f Ar config_file
52 .Op Fl g Ar login_grace_time
53 .Op Fl h Ar host_key_file
54 .Op Fl k Ar key_gen_time
61 (OpenSSH Daemon) is the daemon program for
63 Together these programs replace
67 and provide secure encrypted communications between two untrusted hosts
68 over an insecure network.
71 listens for connections from clients.
72 It is normally started at boot from
75 daemon for each incoming connection.
76 The forked daemons handle
77 key exchange, encryption, authentication, command execution,
81 can be configured using command-line options or a configuration file
84 command-line options override values specified in the
87 rereads its configuration file when it receives a hangup signal,
89 by executing itself with the name and options it was started with, e.g.\&
92 The options are as follows:
97 to use IPv4 addresses only.
101 to use IPv6 addresses only.
103 Specifies the number of bits in the ephemeral protocol version 1
104 server key (default 1024).
105 .It Fl C Ar connection_spec
106 Specify the connection parameters to use for the
111 directives in the configuration file
112 that would apply to the specified user, host, and address will be set before
113 the configuration is written to standard output.
114 The connection parameters are supplied as keyword=value pairs.
120 All are required and may be supplied in any order, either with multiple
122 options or as a comma-separated list.
124 When this option is specified,
126 will not detach and does not become a daemon.
127 This allows easy monitoring of
131 The server sends verbose debug output to the system
132 log, and does not put itself in the background.
133 The server also will not fork and will only process one connection.
134 This option is only intended for debugging for the server.
137 options increase the debugging level.
140 When this option is specified,
142 will send the output to the standard error instead of the system log.
143 .It Fl f Ar config_file
144 Specifies the name of the configuration file.
146 .Pa /etc/ssh/sshd_config .
148 refuses to start if there is no configuration file.
149 .It Fl g Ar login_grace_time
150 Gives the grace time for clients to authenticate themselves (default
152 If the client fails to authenticate the user within
153 this many seconds, the server disconnects and exits.
154 A value of zero indicates no limit.
155 .It Fl h Ar host_key_file
156 Specifies a file from which a host key is read.
157 This option must be given if
159 is not run as root (as the normal
160 host key files are normally not readable by anyone but root).
162 .Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
163 for protocol version 1, and
164 .Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
166 .Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
167 for protocol version 2.
168 It is possible to have multiple host key files for
169 the different protocol versions and host key algorithms.
177 from inetd because it needs to generate the server key before it can
178 respond to the client, and this may take tens of seconds.
179 Clients would have to wait too long if the key was regenerated every time.
180 However, with small key sizes (e.g. 512) using
184 .It Fl k Ar key_gen_time
185 Specifies how often the ephemeral protocol version 1 server key is
186 regenerated (default 3600 seconds, or one hour).
187 The motivation for regenerating the key fairly
188 often is that the key is not stored anywhere, and after about an hour
189 it becomes impossible to recover the key for decrypting intercepted
190 communications even if the machine is cracked into or physically
192 A value of zero indicates that the key will never be regenerated.
194 Can be used to give options in the format used in the configuration file.
195 This is useful for specifying options for which there is no separate
197 For full details of the options, and their values, see
200 Specifies the port on which the server listens for connections
202 Multiple port options are permitted.
203 Ports specified in the configuration file with the
205 option are ignored when a command-line port is specified.
206 Ports specified using the
208 option override command-line ports.
211 Nothing is sent to the system log.
212 Normally the beginning,
213 authentication, and termination of each connection is logged.
216 Check the validity of the configuration file, output the effective configuration
217 to stdout and then exit.
220 rules may be applied by specifying the connection parameters using one or more
225 Only check the validity of the configuration file and sanity of the keys.
226 This is useful for updating
228 reliably as configuration options may change.
230 This option is used to specify the size of the field
233 structure that holds the remote host name.
234 If the resolved host name is longer than
236 the dotted decimal value will be used instead.
237 This allows hosts with very long host names that
238 overflow this field to still be uniquely identified.
241 indicates that only dotted decimal addresses
242 should be put into the
246 may also be used to prevent
248 from making DNS requests unless the authentication
249 mechanism or configuration requires it.
250 Authentication mechanisms that may require DNS include
251 .Cm RhostsRSAAuthentication ,
252 .Cm HostbasedAuthentication ,
254 .Cm from="pattern-list"
255 option in a key file.
256 Configuration options that require DNS include using a
263 The OpenSSH SSH daemon supports SSH protocols 1 and 2.
264 Both protocols are supported by default,
265 though this can be changed via the
269 Protocol 2 supports both RSA and DSA keys;
270 protocol 1 only supports RSA keys.
272 each host has a host-specific key,
274 used to identify the host.
276 Forward security for protocol 1 is provided through
277 an additional server key,
279 generated when the server starts.
280 This key is normally regenerated every hour if it has been used, and
281 is never stored on disk.
282 Whenever a client connects, the daemon responds with its public
283 host and server keys.
284 The client compares the
285 RSA host key against its own database to verify that it has not changed.
286 The client then generates a 256-bit random number.
288 random number using both the host key and the server key, and sends
289 the encrypted number to the server.
290 Both sides then use this
291 random number as a session key which is used to encrypt all further
292 communications in the session.
293 The rest of the session is encrypted
294 using a conventional cipher, currently Blowfish or 3DES, with 3DES
295 being used by default.
296 The client selects the encryption algorithm
297 to use from those offered by the server.
300 forward security is provided through a Diffie-Hellman key agreement.
301 This key agreement results in a shared session key.
302 The rest of the session is encrypted using a symmetric cipher, currently
303 128-bit AES, Blowfish, 3DES, CAST128, Arcfour, 192-bit AES, or 256-bit AES.
304 The client selects the encryption algorithm
305 to use from those offered by the server.
306 Additionally, session integrity is provided
307 through a cryptographic message authentication code
308 (hmac-md5, hmac-sha1, umac-64 or hmac-ripemd160).
310 Finally, the server and the client enter an authentication dialog.
311 The client tries to authenticate itself using
312 host-based authentication,
313 public key authentication,
314 challenge-response authentication,
315 or password authentication.
317 If the client successfully authenticates itself, a dialog for
318 preparing the session is entered.
319 At this time the client may request
320 things like allocating a pseudo-tty, forwarding X11 connections,
321 forwarding TCP connections, or forwarding the authentication agent
322 connection over the secure channel.
324 After this, the client either requests a shell or execution of a command.
325 The sides then enter session mode.
326 In this mode, either side may send
327 data at any time, and such data is forwarded to/from the shell or
328 command on the server side, and the user terminal in the client side.
330 When the user program terminates and all forwarded X11 and other
331 connections have been closed, the server sends command exit status to
332 the client, and both sides exit.
334 When a user successfully logs in,
337 .Bl -enum -offset indent
339 If the login is on a tty, and no command has been specified,
340 prints last login time and
342 (unless prevented in the configuration file or by
348 If the login is on a tty, records login time.
352 if it exists, prints contents and quits
355 Changes to run with normal user privileges.
357 Sets up basic environment.
360 .Pa ~/.ssh/environment ,
361 if it exists, and users are allowed to change their environment.
363 .Cm PermitUserEnvironment
367 Changes to user's home directory.
371 exists, runs it; else if
374 it; otherwise runs xauth.
377 files are given the X11
378 authentication protocol and cookie in standard input.
383 Runs user's shell or command.
390 runs it after reading the
391 environment files but before starting the user's shell or command.
392 It must not produce any output on stdout; stderr must be used
394 If X11 forwarding is in use, it will receive the "proto cookie" pair in
395 its standard input (and
402 will not run xauth automatically to add X11 cookies.
404 The primary purpose of this file is to run any initialization routines
405 which may be needed before the user's home directory becomes
406 accessible; AFS is a particular example of such an environment.
408 This file will probably contain some initialization code followed by
409 something similar to:
410 .Bd -literal -offset 3n
411 if read proto cookie && [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
412 if [ `echo $DISPLAY | cut -c1-10` = 'localhost:' ]; then
413 # X11UseLocalhost=yes
414 echo add unix:`echo $DISPLAY |
415 cut -c11-` $proto $cookie
418 echo add $DISPLAY $proto $cookie
423 If this file does not exist,
426 does not exist either, xauth is used to add the cookie.
427 .Sh AUTHORIZED_KEYS FILE FORMAT
428 .Cm AuthorizedKeysFile
429 specifies the file containing public keys for
430 public key authentication;
431 if none is specified, the default is
432 .Pa ~/.ssh/authorized_keys .
433 Each line of the file contains one
434 key (empty lines and lines starting with a
438 Protocol 1 public keys consist of the following space-separated fields:
439 options, bits, exponent, modulus, comment.
440 Protocol 2 public key consist of:
441 options, keytype, base64-encoded key, comment.
442 The options field is optional;
443 its presence is determined by whether the line starts
444 with a number or not (the options field never starts with a number).
445 The bits, exponent, modulus, and comment fields give the RSA key for
446 protocol version 1; the
447 comment field is not used for anything (but may be convenient for the
448 user to identify the key).
449 For protocol version 2 the keytype is
454 Note that lines in this file are usually several hundred bytes long
455 (because of the size of the public key encoding) up to a limit of
456 8 kilobytes, which permits DSA keys up to 8 kilobits and RSA
457 keys up to 16 kilobits.
458 You don't want to type them in; instead, copy the
466 enforces a minimum RSA key modulus size for protocol 1
467 and protocol 2 keys of 768 bits.
469 The options (if present) consist of comma-separated option
471 No spaces are permitted, except within double quotes.
472 The following option specifications are supported (note
473 that option keywords are case-insensitive):
475 .It Cm command="command"
476 Specifies that the command is executed whenever this key is used for
478 The command supplied by the user (if any) is ignored.
479 The command is run on a pty if the client requests a pty;
480 otherwise it is run without a tty.
481 If an 8-bit clean channel is required,
482 one must not request a pty or should specify
484 A quote may be included in the command by quoting it with a backslash.
485 This option might be useful
486 to restrict certain public keys to perform just a specific operation.
487 An example might be a key that permits remote backups but nothing else.
488 Note that the client may specify TCP and/or X11
489 forwarding unless they are explicitly prohibited.
490 The command originally supplied by the client is available in the
491 .Ev SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND
492 environment variable.
493 Note that this option applies to shell, command or subsystem execution.
494 .It Cm environment="NAME=value"
495 Specifies that the string is to be added to the environment when
496 logging in using this key.
497 Environment variables set this way
498 override other default environment values.
499 Multiple options of this type are permitted.
500 Environment processing is disabled by default and is
502 .Cm PermitUserEnvironment
504 This option is automatically disabled if
507 .It Cm from="pattern-list"
508 Specifies that in addition to public key authentication, either the canonical
509 name of the remote host or its IP address must be present in the
510 comma-separated list of patterns.
515 for more information on patterns.
517 In addition to the wildcard matching that may be applied to hostnames or
520 stanza may match IP addresses using CIDR address/masklen notation.
522 The purpose of this option is to optionally increase security: public key
523 authentication by itself does not trust the network or name servers or
524 anything (but the key); however, if somebody somehow steals the key, the key
525 permits an intruder to log in from anywhere in the world.
526 This additional option makes using a stolen key more difficult (name
527 servers and/or routers would have to be compromised in addition to
529 .It Cm no-agent-forwarding
530 Forbids authentication agent forwarding when this key is used for
532 .It Cm no-port-forwarding
533 Forbids TCP forwarding when this key is used for authentication.
534 Any port forward requests by the client will return an error.
535 This might be used, e.g. in connection with the
539 Prevents tty allocation (a request to allocate a pty will fail).
541 Disables execution of
543 .It Cm no-X11-forwarding
544 Forbids X11 forwarding when this key is used for authentication.
545 Any X11 forward requests by the client will return an error.
546 .It Cm permitopen="host:port"
549 port forwarding such that it may only connect to the specified host and
551 IPv6 addresses can be specified with an alternative syntax:
552 .Ar host Ns / Ns Ar port .
555 options may be applied separated by commas.
556 No pattern matching is performed on the specified hostnames,
557 they must be literal domains or addresses.
561 device on the server.
562 Without this option, the next available device will be used if
563 the client requests a tunnel.
566 An example authorized_keys file:
567 .Bd -literal -offset 3n
568 # Comments allowed at start of line
569 ssh-rsa AAAAB3Nza...LiPk== user@example.net
570 from="*.sales.example.net,!pc.sales.example.net" ssh-rsa
571 AAAAB2...19Q== john@example.net
572 command="dump /home",no-pty,no-port-forwarding ssh-dss
573 AAAAC3...51R== example.net
574 permitopen="192.0.2.1:80",permitopen="192.0.2.2:25" ssh-dss
576 tunnel="0",command="sh /etc/netstart tun0" ssh-rsa AAAA...==
579 .Sh SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS FILE FORMAT
581 .Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
583 .Pa ~/.ssh/known_hosts
584 files contain host public keys for all known hosts.
585 The global file should
586 be prepared by the administrator (optional), and the per-user file is
587 maintained automatically: whenever the user connects from an unknown host,
588 its key is added to the per-user file.
590 Each line in these files contains the following fields: hostnames,
591 bits, exponent, modulus, comment.
592 The fields are separated by spaces.
594 Hostnames is a comma-separated list of patterns
599 wildcards); each pattern in turn is matched against the canonical host
600 name (when authenticating a client) or against the user-supplied
601 name (when authenticating a server).
602 A pattern may also be preceded by
604 to indicate negation: if the host name matches a negated
605 pattern, it is not accepted (by that line) even if it matched another
607 A hostname or address may optionally be enclosed within
611 brackets then followed by
613 and a non-standard port number.
615 Alternately, hostnames may be stored in a hashed form which hides host names
616 and addresses should the file's contents be disclosed.
617 Hashed hostnames start with a
620 Only one hashed hostname may appear on a single line and none of the above
621 negation or wildcard operators may be applied.
623 Bits, exponent, and modulus are taken directly from the RSA host key; they
624 can be obtained, for example, from
625 .Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub .
626 The optional comment field continues to the end of the line, and is not used.
630 and empty lines are ignored as comments.
632 When performing host authentication, authentication is accepted if any
633 matching line has the proper key.
634 It is thus permissible (but not
635 recommended) to have several lines or different host keys for the same
637 This will inevitably happen when short forms of host names
638 from different domains are put in the file.
640 that the files contain conflicting information; authentication is
641 accepted if valid information can be found from either file.
643 Note that the lines in these files are typically hundreds of characters
644 long, and you definitely don't want to type in the host keys by hand.
645 Rather, generate them by a script
647 .Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub
648 and adding the host names at the front.
650 An example ssh_known_hosts file:
651 .Bd -literal -offset 3n
652 # Comments allowed at start of line
653 closenet,...,192.0.2.53 1024 37 159...93 closenet.example.net
654 cvs.example.net,192.0.2.10 ssh-rsa AAAA1234.....=
656 |1|JfKTdBh7rNbXkVAQCRp4OQoPfmI=|USECr3SWf1JUPsms5AqfD5QfxkM= ssh-rsa
660 .Bl -tag -width Ds -compact
662 This file is used to suppress printing the last login time and
670 It does not suppress printing of the banner specified by
674 This file is used for host-based authentication (see
676 for more information).
677 On some machines this file may need to be
678 world-readable if the user's home directory is on an NFS partition,
682 Additionally, this file must be owned by the user,
683 and must not have write permissions for anyone else.
685 permission for most machines is read/write for the user, and not
686 accessible by others.
689 This file is used in exactly the same way as
691 but allows host-based authentication without permitting login with
695 This directory is the default location for all user-specific configuration
696 and authentication information.
697 There is no general requirement to keep the entire contents of this directory
698 secret, but the recommended permissions are read/write/execute for the user,
699 and not accessible by others.
701 .It ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
702 Lists the public keys (RSA/DSA) that can be used for logging in as this user.
703 The format of this file is described above.
704 The content of the file is not highly sensitive, but the recommended
705 permissions are read/write for the user, and not accessible by others.
709 directory, or the user's home directory are writable
710 by other users, then the file could be modified or replaced by unauthorized
714 will not allow it to be used unless the
716 option has been set to
719 .It ~/.ssh/environment
720 This file is read into the environment at login (if it exists).
721 It can only contain empty lines, comment lines (that start with
723 and assignment lines of the form name=value.
724 The file should be writable
725 only by the user; it need not be readable by anyone else.
726 Environment processing is disabled by default and is
728 .Cm PermitUserEnvironment
731 .It ~/.ssh/known_hosts
732 Contains a list of host keys for all hosts the user has logged into
733 that are not already in the systemwide list of known host keys.
734 The format of this file is described above.
735 This file should be writable only by root/the owner and
736 can, but need not be, world-readable.
739 Contains initialization routines to be run before
740 the user's home directory becomes accessible.
741 This file should be writable only by the user, and need not be
742 readable by anyone else.
746 Access controls that should be enforced by tcp-wrappers are defined here.
747 Further details are described in
751 This file is for host-based authentication (see
753 It should only be writable by root.
756 Contains Diffie-Hellman groups used for the "Diffie-Hellman Group Exchange".
757 The file format is described in
767 refuses to let anyone except root log in.
768 The contents of the file
769 are displayed to anyone trying to log in, and non-root connections are
771 The file should be world-readable.
773 .It /etc/shosts.equiv
774 This file is used in exactly the same way as
776 but allows host-based authentication without permitting login with
779 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
780 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
781 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
782 These three files contain the private parts of the host keys.
783 These files should only be owned by root, readable only by root, and not
784 accessible to others.
787 does not start if these files are group/world-accessible.
789 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key.pub
790 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub
791 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
792 These three files contain the public parts of the host keys.
793 These files should be world-readable but writable only by
795 Their contents should match the respective private parts.
797 really used for anything; they are provided for the convenience of
798 the user so their contents can be copied to known hosts files.
799 These files are created using
802 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
803 Systemwide list of known host keys.
804 This file should be prepared by the
805 system administrator to contain the public host keys of all machines in the
807 The format of this file is described above.
808 This file should be writable only by root/the owner and
809 should be world-readable.
811 .It /etc/ssh/sshd_config
812 Contains configuration data for
814 The file format and configuration options are described in
820 it can be used to specify
821 machine-specific login-time initializations globally.
822 This file should be writable only by root, and should be world-readable.
828 during privilege separation in the pre-authentication phase.
829 The directory should not contain any files and must be owned by root
830 and not group or world-writable.
832 .It /var/run/sshd.pid
833 Contains the process ID of the
835 listening for connections (if there are several daemons running
836 concurrently for different ports, this contains the process ID of the one
838 The content of this file is not sensitive; it can be world-readable.
856 OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free
857 ssh 1.2.12 release by Tatu Ylonen.
858 Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos,
859 Theo de Raadt and Dug Song
860 removed many bugs, re-added newer features and
862 Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH
863 protocol versions 1.5 and 2.0.
864 Niels Provos and Markus Friedl contributed support
865 for privilege separation.
867 System security is not improved unless
872 are disabled (thus completely disabling