1SSH(1)                    BSD General Commands Manual                   SSH(1)
2

NAME

4     ssh — OpenSSH SSH client (remote login program)
5

SYNOPSIS

7     ssh [-1246AaCfgkMNnqsTtVvXxY] [-b bind_address] [-c cipher_spec] [-D
8         [bind_address:]port] [-e escape_char] [-F configfile]
9         [-i identity_file] [-L  [bind_address:]port:host:hostport]
10         [-l login_name] [-m mac_spec] [-O ctl_cmd] [-o option] [-p port] [-R
11         [bind_address:]port:host:hostport] [-S ctl_path]
12         [-w local_tun[:remote_tun]] [user@]hostname [command]
13

DESCRIPTION

15     ssh (SSH client) is a program for logging into a remote machine and for
16     executing commands on a remote machine.  It is intended to replace rlogin
17     and rsh, and provide secure encrypted communications between two
18     untrusted hosts over an insecure network.  X11 connections and arbitrary
19     TCP ports can also be forwarded over the secure channel.
20
21     ssh connects and logs into the specified hostname (with optional user
22     name).  The user must prove his/her identity to the remote machine using
23     one of several methods depending on the protocol version used (see
24     below).
25
26     If command is specified, it is executed on the remote host instead of a
27     login shell.
28
29     The options are as follows:
30
31     -1      Forces ssh to try protocol version 1 only.
32
33     -2      Forces ssh to try protocol version 2 only.
34
35     -4      Forces ssh to use IPv4 addresses only.
36
37     -6      Forces ssh to use IPv6 addresses only.
38
39     -A      Enables forwarding of the authentication agent connection.  This
40             can also be specified on a per-host basis in a configuration
41             file.
42
43             Agent forwarding should be enabled with caution.  Users with the
44             ability to bypass file permissions on the remote host (for the
45             agent's Unix-domain socket) can access the local agent through
46             the forwarded connection.  An attacker cannot obtain key material
47             from the agent, however they can perform operations on the keys
48             that enable them to authenticate using the identities loaded into
49             the agent.
50
51     -a      Disables forwarding of the authentication agent connection.
52
53     -b bind_address
54             Use bind_address on the local machine as the source address of
55             the connection.  Only useful on systems with more than one
56             address.
57
58     -C      Requests compression of all data (including stdin, stdout,
59             stderr, and data for forwarded X11 and TCP connections).  The
60             compression algorithm is the same used by gzip(1), and the
61             “level” can be controlled by the CompressionLevel option for pro‐
62             tocol version 1.  Compression is desirable on modem lines and
63             other slow connections, but will only slow down things on fast
64             networks.  The default value can be set on a host-by-host basis
65             in the configuration files; see the Compression option.
66
67     -c cipher_spec
68             Selects the cipher specification for encrypting the session.
69
70             Protocol version 1 allows specification of a single cipher.  The
71             supported values are “3des”, “blowfish”, and “des”.  3des
72             (triple-des) is an encrypt-decrypt-encrypt triple with three dif‐
73             ferent keys.  It is believed to be secure.  blowfish is a fast
74             block cipher; it appears very secure and is much faster than
75             3des.  des is only supported in the ssh client for interoperabil‐
76             ity with legacy protocol 1 implementations that do not support
77             the 3des cipher.  Its use is strongly discouraged due to crypto‐
78             graphic weaknesses.  The default is “3des”.
79
80             For protocol version 2, cipher_spec is a comma-separated list of
81             ciphers listed in order of preference.  The supported ciphers
82             are: 3des-cbc, aes128-cbc, aes192-cbc, aes256-cbc, aes128-ctr,
83             aes192-ctr, aes256-ctr, arcfour128, arcfour256, arcfour, blow‐
84             fish-cbc, and cast128-cbc.  The default is:
85
86                   aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,arcfour128,
87                   arcfour256,arcfour,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,aes128-ctr,
88                   aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
89
90     -D [bind_address:]port
91             Specifies a local “dynamic” application-level port forwarding.
92             This works by allocating a socket to listen to port on the local
93             side, optionally bound to the specified bind_address.  Whenever a
94             connection is made to this port, the connection is forwarded over
95             the secure channel, and the application protocol is then used to
96             determine where to connect to from the remote machine.  Currently
97             the SOCKS4 and SOCKS5 protocols are supported, and ssh will act
98             as a SOCKS server.  Only root can forward privileged ports.
99             Dynamic port forwardings can also be specified in the configura‐
100             tion file.
101
102             IPv6 addresses can be specified with an alternative syntax:
103             [bind_address/]port or by enclosing the address in square brack‐
104             ets.  Only the superuser can forward privileged ports.  By
105             default, the local port is bound in accordance with the
106             GatewayPorts setting.  However, an explicit bind_address may be
107             used to bind the connection to a specific address.  The
108             bind_address of “localhost” indicates that the listening port be
109             bound for local use only, while an empty address or ‘*’ indicates
110             that the port should be available from all interfaces.
111
112     -e escape_char
113             Sets the escape character for sessions with a pty (default: ‘~’).
114             The escape character is only recognized at the beginning of a
115             line.  The escape character followed by a dot (‘.’) closes the
116             connection; followed by control-Z suspends the connection; and
117             followed by itself sends the escape character once.  Setting the
118             character to “none” disables any escapes and makes the session
119             fully transparent.
120
121     -F configfile
122             Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file.  If a con‐
123             figuration file is given on the command line, the system-wide
124             configuration file (/etc/ssh/ssh_config) will be ignored.  The
125             default for the per-user configuration file is ~/.ssh/config.
126
127     -f      Requests ssh to go to background just before command execution.
128             This is useful if ssh is going to ask for passwords or
129             passphrases, but the user wants it in the background.  This
130             implies -n.  The recommended way to start X11 programs at a
131             remote site is with something like ssh -f host xterm.
132
133     -g      Allows remote hosts to connect to local forwarded ports.
134
135     -I smartcard_device
136             Specify the device ssh should use to communicate with a smartcard
137             used for storing the user's private RSA key.  This option is only
138             available if support for smartcard devices is compiled in
139             (default is no support).
140
141     -i identity_file
142             Selects a file from which the identity (private key) for RSA or
143             DSA authentication is read.  The default is ~/.ssh/identity for
144             protocol version 1, and ~/.ssh/id_rsa and ~/.ssh/id_dsa for pro‐
145             tocol version 2.  Identity files may also be specified on a per-
146             host basis in the configuration file.  It is possible to have
147             multiple -i options (and multiple identities specified in config‐
148             uration files).
149
150     -k      Disables forwarding (delegation) of GSSAPI credentials to the
151             server.
152
153     -L [bind_address:]port:host:hostport
154             Specifies that the given port on the local (client) host is to be
155             forwarded to the given host and port on the remote side.  This
156             works by allocating a socket to listen to port on the local side,
157             optionally bound to the specified bind_address.  Whenever a con‐
158             nection is made to this port, the connection is forwarded over
159             the secure channel, and a connection is made to host port
160             hostport from the remote machine.  Port forwardings can also be
161             specified in the configuration file.  IPv6 addresses can be spec‐
162             ified with an alternative syntax:
163             [bind_address/]port/host/hostport or by enclosing the address in
164             square brackets.  Only the superuser can forward privileged
165             ports.  By default, the local port is bound in accordance with
166             the GatewayPorts setting.  However, an explicit bind_address may
167             be used to bind the connection to a specific address.  The
168             bind_address of “localhost” indicates that the listening port be
169             bound for local use only, while an empty address or ‘*’ indicates
170             that the port should be available from all interfaces.
171
172     -l login_name
173             Specifies the user to log in as on the remote machine.  This also
174             may be specified on a per-host basis in the configuration file.
175
176     -M      Places the ssh client into “master” mode for connection sharing.
177             Multiple -M options places ssh into “master” mode with confirma‐
178             tion required before slave connections are accepted.  Refer to
179             the description of ControlMaster in ssh_config(5) for details.
180
181     -m mac_spec
182             Additionally, for protocol version 2 a comma-separated list of
183             MAC (message authentication code) algorithms can be specified in
184             order of preference.  See the MACs keyword for more information.
185
186     -N      Do not execute a remote command.  This is useful for just for‐
187             warding ports (protocol version 2 only).
188
189     -n      Redirects stdin from /dev/null (actually, prevents reading from
190             stdin).  This must be used when ssh is run in the background.  A
191             common trick is to use this to run X11 programs on a remote
192             machine.  For example, ssh -n shadows.cs.hut.fi emacs & will
193             start an emacs on shadows.cs.hut.fi, and the X11 connection will
194             be automatically forwarded over an encrypted channel.  The ssh
195             program will be put in the background.  (This does not work if
196             ssh needs to ask for a password or passphrase; see also the -f
197             option.)
198
199     -O ctl_cmd
200             Control an active connection multiplexing master process.  When
201             the -O option is specified, the ctl_cmd argument is interpreted
202             and passed to the master process.  Valid commands are: “check”
203             (check that the master process is running) and “exit” (request
204             the master to exit).
205
206     -o option
207             Can be used to give options in the format used in the configura‐
208             tion file.  This is useful for specifying options for which there
209             is no separate command-line flag.  For full details of the
210             options listed below, and their possible values, see
211             ssh_config(5).
212
213                   AddressFamily
214                   BatchMode
215                   BindAddress
216                   ChallengeResponseAuthentication
217                   CheckHostIP
218                   Cipher
219                   Ciphers
220                   ClearAllForwardings
221                   Compression
222                   CompressionLevel
223                   ConnectionAttempts
224                   ConnectTimeout
225                   ControlMaster
226                   ControlPath
227                   DynamicForward
228                   EscapeChar
229                   ExitOnForwardFailure
230                   ForwardAgent
231                   ForwardX11
232                   ForwardX11Trusted
233                   GatewayPorts
234                   GlobalKnownHostsFile
235                   GSSAPIAuthentication
236                   GSSAPIDelegateCredentials
237                   HashKnownHosts
238                   Host
239                   HostbasedAuthentication
240                   HostKeyAlgorithms
241                   HostKeyAlias
242                   HostName
243                   IdentityFile
244                   IdentitiesOnly
245                   KbdInteractiveDevices
246                   LocalCommand
247                   LocalForward
248                   LogLevel
249                   MACs
250                   NoHostAuthenticationForLocalhost
251                   NumberOfPasswordPrompts
252                   PasswordAuthentication
253                   PermitLocalCommand
254                   Port
255                   PreferredAuthentications
256                   Protocol
257                   ProxyCommand
258                   PubkeyAuthentication
259                   RekeyLimit
260                   RemoteForward
261                   RhostsRSAAuthentication
262                   RSAAuthentication
263                   SendEnv
264                   ServerAliveInterval
265                   ServerAliveCountMax
266                   SmartcardDevice
267                   StrictHostKeyChecking
268                   TCPKeepAlive
269                   Tunnel
270                   TunnelDevice
271                   UsePrivilegedPort
272                   User
273                   UserKnownHostsFile
274                   VerifyHostKeyDNS
275                   XAuthLocation
276
277     -p port
278             Port to connect to on the remote host.  This can be specified on
279             a per-host basis in the configuration file.
280
281     -q      Quiet mode.  Causes all warning and diagnostic messages to be
282             suppressed.
283
284     -R [bind_address:]port:host:hostport
285             Specifies that the given port on the remote (server) host is to
286             be forwarded to the given host and port on the local side.  This
287             works by allocating a socket to listen to port on the remote
288             side, and whenever a connection is made to this port, the connec‐
289             tion is forwarded over the secure channel, and a connection is
290             made to host port hostport from the local machine.
291
292             Port forwardings can also be specified in the configuration file.
293             Privileged ports can be forwarded only when logging in as root on
294             the remote machine.  IPv6 addresses can be specified by enclosing
295             the address in square braces or using an alternative syntax:
296             [bind_address/]host/port/hostport.
297
298             By default, the listening socket on the server will be bound to
299             the loopback interface only.  This may be overriden by specifying
300             a bind_address.  An empty bind_address, or the address ‘*’, indi‐
301             cates that the remote socket should listen on all interfaces.
302             Specifying a remote bind_address will only succeed if the
303             server's GatewayPorts option is enabled (see sshd_config(5)).
304
305     -S ctl_path
306             Specifies the location of a control socket for connection shar‐
307             ing.  Refer to the description of ControlPath and ControlMaster
308             in ssh_config(5) for details.
309
310     -s      May be used to request invocation of a subsystem on the remote
311             system.  Subsystems are a feature of the SSH2 protocol which
312             facilitate the use of SSH as a secure transport for other appli‐
313             cations (eg. sftp(1)).  The subsystem is specified as the remote
314             command.
315
316     -T      Disable pseudo-tty allocation.
317
318     -t      Force pseudo-tty allocation.  This can be used to execute arbi‐
319             trary screen-based programs on a remote machine, which can be
320             very useful, e.g. when implementing menu services.  Multiple -t
321             options force tty allocation, even if ssh has no local tty.
322
323     -V      Display the version number and exit.
324
325     -v      Verbose mode.  Causes ssh to print debugging messages about its
326             progress.  This is helpful in debugging connection, authentica‐
327             tion, and configuration problems.  Multiple -v options increase
328             the verbosity.  The maximum is 3.
329
330     -w local_tun[:remote_tun]
331             Requests tunnel device forwarding with the specified tun(4)
332             devices between the client (local_tun) and the server
333             (remote_tun).
334
335             The devices may be specified by numerical ID or the keyword
336             “any”, which uses the next available tunnel device.  If
337             remote_tun is not specified, it defaults to “any”.  See also the
338             Tunnel and TunnelDevice directives in ssh_config(5).  If the
339             Tunnel directive is unset, it is set to the default tunnel mode,
340             which is “point-to-point”.
341
342     -X      Enables X11 forwarding.  This can also be specified on a per-host
343             basis in a configuration file.
344
345             X11 forwarding should be enabled with caution.  Users with the
346             ability to bypass file permissions on the remote host (for the
347             user's X authorization database) can access the local X11 display
348             through the forwarded connection.  An attacker may then be able
349             to perform activities such as keystroke monitoring.
350
351             For this reason, X11 forwarding is subjected to X11 SECURITY
352             extension restrictions by default.  Please refer to the ssh -Y
353             option and the ForwardX11Trusted directive in ssh_config(5) for
354             more information.
355
356     -x      Disables X11 forwarding.
357
358     -Y      Enables trusted X11 forwarding.  Trusted X11 forwardings are not
359             subjected to the X11 SECURITY extension controls.
360
361     ssh may additionally obtain configuration data from a per-user configura‐
362     tion file and a system-wide configuration file.  The file format and con‐
363     figuration options are described in ssh_config(5).
364
365     ssh exits with the exit status of the remote command or with 255 if an
366     error occurred.
367

AUTHENTICATION

369     The OpenSSH SSH client supports SSH protocols 1 and 2.  Protocol 2 is the
370     default, with ssh falling back to protocol 1 if it detects protocol 2 is
371     unsupported.  These settings may be altered using the Protocol option in
372     ssh_config(5), or enforced using the -1 and -2 options (see above).  Both
373     protocols support similar authentication methods, but protocol 2 is pre‐
374     ferred since it provides additional mechanisms for confidentiality (the
375     traffic is encrypted using AES, 3DES, Blowfish, CAST128, or Arcfour) and
376     integrity (hmac-md5, hmac-sha1, hmac-ripemd160).  Protocol 1 lacks a
377     strong mechanism for ensuring the integrity of the connection.
378
379     The methods available for authentication are: GSSAPI-based authentica‐
380     tion, host-based authentication, public key authentication, challenge-
381     response authentication, and password authentication.  Authentication
382     methods are tried in the order specified above, though protocol 2 has a
383     configuration option to change the default order:
384     PreferredAuthentications.
385
386     Host-based authentication works as follows: If the machine the user logs
387     in from is listed in /etc/hosts.equiv or /etc/ssh/shosts.equiv on the
388     remote machine, and the user names are the same on both sides, or if the
389     files ~/.rhosts or ~/.shosts exist in the user's home directory on the
390     remote machine and contain a line containing the name of the client
391     machine and the name of the user on that machine, the user is considered
392     for login.  Additionally, the server must be able to verify the client's
393     host key (see the description of /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts and
394     ~/.ssh/known_hosts, below) for login to be permitted.  This authentica‐
395     tion method closes security holes due to IP spoofing, DNS spoofing, and
396     routing spoofing.  [Note to the administrator: /etc/hosts.equiv,
397     ~/.rhosts, and the rlogin/rsh protocol in general, are inherently inse‐
398     cure and should be disabled if security is desired.]
399
400     Public key authentication works as follows: The scheme is based on pub‐
401     lic-key cryptography, using cryptosystems where encryption and decryption
402     are done using separate keys, and it is unfeasible to derive the decryp‐
403     tion key from the encryption key.  The idea is that each user creates a
404     public/private key pair for authentication purposes.  The server knows
405     the public key, and only the user knows the private key.  ssh implements
406     public key authentication protocol automatically, using either the RSA or
407     DSA algorithms.  Protocol 1 is restricted to using only RSA keys, but
408     protocol 2 may use either.  The HISTORY section of ssl(8) contains a
409     brief discussion of the two algorithms.
410
411     The file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys lists the public keys that are permitted
412     for logging in.  When the user logs in, the ssh program tells the server
413     which key pair it would like to use for authentication.  The client
414     proves that it has access to the private key and the server checks that
415     the corresponding public key is authorized to accept the account.
416
417     The user creates his/her key pair by running ssh-keygen(1).  This stores
418     the private key in ~/.ssh/identity (protocol 1), ~/.ssh/id_dsa (protocol
419     2 DSA), or ~/.ssh/id_rsa (protocol 2 RSA) and stores the public key in
420     ~/.ssh/identity.pub (protocol 1), ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub (protocol 2 DSA), or
421     ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub (protocol 2 RSA) in the user's home directory.  The
422     user should then copy the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys in his/her
423     home directory on the remote machine.  The authorized_keys file corre‐
424     sponds to the conventional ~/.rhosts file, and has one key per line,
425     though the lines can be very long.  After this, the user can log in with‐
426     out giving the password.
427
428     The most convenient way to use public key authentication may be with an
429     authentication agent.  See ssh-agent(1) for more information.
430
431     Challenge-response authentication works as follows: The server sends an
432     arbitrary "challenge" text, and prompts for a response.  Protocol 2
433     allows multiple challenges and responses; protocol 1 is restricted to
434     just one challenge/response.  Examples of challenge-response authentica‐
435     tion include BSD Authentication (see login.conf(5)) and PAM (some non-
436     OpenBSD systems).
437
438     Finally, if other authentication methods fail, ssh prompts the user for a
439     password.  The password is sent to the remote host for checking; however,
440     since all communications are encrypted, the password cannot be seen by
441     someone listening on the network.
442
443     ssh automatically maintains and checks a database containing identifica‐
444     tion for all hosts it has ever been used with.  Host keys are stored in
445     ~/.ssh/known_hosts in the user's home directory.  Additionally, the file
446     /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts is automatically checked for known hosts.  Any
447     new hosts are automatically added to the user's file.  If a host's iden‐
448     tification ever changes, ssh warns about this and disables password
449     authentication to prevent server spoofing or man-in-the-middle attacks,
450     which could otherwise be used to circumvent the encryption.  The
451     StrictHostKeyChecking option can be used to control logins to machines
452     whose host key is not known or has changed.
453
454     When the user's identity has been accepted by the server, the server
455     either executes the given command, or logs into the machine and gives the
456     user a normal shell on the remote machine.  All communication with the
457     remote command or shell will be automatically encrypted.
458
459     If a pseudo-terminal has been allocated (normal login session), the user
460     may use the escape characters noted below.
461
462     If no pseudo-tty has been allocated, the session is transparent and can
463     be used to reliably transfer binary data.  On most systems, setting the
464     escape character to “none” will also make the session transparent even if
465     a tty is used.
466
467     The session terminates when the command or shell on the remote machine
468     exits and all X11 and TCP connections have been closed.
469

ESCAPE CHARACTERS

471     When a pseudo-terminal has been requested, ssh supports a number of func‐
472     tions through the use of an escape character.
473
474     A single tilde character can be sent as ~~ or by following the tilde by a
475     character other than those described below.  The escape character must
476     always follow a newline to be interpreted as special.  The escape charac‐
477     ter can be changed in configuration files using the EscapeChar configura‐
478     tion directive or on the command line by the -e option.
479
480     The supported escapes (assuming the default ‘~’) are:
481
482     ~.      Disconnect.
483
484     ~^Z     Background ssh.
485
486     ~#      List forwarded connections.
487
488     ~&      Background ssh at logout when waiting for forwarded connection /
489             X11 sessions to terminate.
490
491     ~?      Display a list of escape characters.
492
493     ~B      Send a BREAK to the remote system (only useful for SSH protocol
494             version 2 and if the peer supports it).
495
496     ~C      Open command line.  Currently this allows the addition of port
497             forwardings using the -L and -R options (see above).  It also
498             allows the cancellation of existing remote port-forwardings using
499             -KR[bind_address:]port.  !command allows the user to execute a
500             local command if the PermitLocalCommand option is enabled in
501             ssh_config(5).  Basic help is available, using the -h option.
502
503     ~R      Request rekeying of the connection (only useful for SSH protocol
504             version 2 and if the peer supports it).
505

TCP FORWARDING

507     Forwarding of arbitrary TCP connections over the secure channel can be
508     specified either on the command line or in a configuration file.  One
509     possible application of TCP forwarding is a secure connection to a mail
510     server; another is going through firewalls.
511
512     In the example below, we look at encrypting communication between an IRC
513     client and server, even though the IRC server does not directly support
514     encrypted communications.  This works as follows: the user connects to
515     the remote host using ssh, specifying a port to be used to forward con‐
516     nections to the remote server.  After that it is possible to start the
517     service which is to be encrypted on the client machine, connecting to the
518     same local port, and ssh will encrypt and forward the connection.
519
520     The following example tunnels an IRC session from client machine
521     “127.0.0.1” (localhost) to remote server “server.example.com”:
522
523         $ ssh -f -L 1234:localhost:6667 server.example.com sleep 10
524         $ irc -c '#users' -p 1234 pinky 127.0.0.1
525
526     This tunnels a connection to IRC server “server.example.com”, joining
527     channel “#users”, nickname “pinky”, using port 1234.  It doesn't matter
528     which port is used, as long as it's greater than 1023 (remember, only
529     root can open sockets on privileged ports) and doesn't conflict with any
530     ports already in use.  The connection is forwarded to port 6667 on the
531     remote server, since that's the standard port for IRC services.
532
533     The -f option backgrounds ssh and the remote command “sleep 10” is speci‐
534     fied to allow an amount of time (10 seconds, in the example) to start the
535     service which is to be tunnelled.  If no connections are made within the
536     time specified, ssh will exit.
537

X11 FORWARDING

539     If the ForwardX11 variable is set to “yes” (or see the description of the
540     -X, -x, and -Y options above) and the user is using X11 (the DISPLAY
541     environment variable is set), the connection to the X11 display is auto‐
542     matically forwarded to the remote side in such a way that any X11 pro‐
543     grams started from the shell (or command) will go through the encrypted
544     channel, and the connection to the real X server will be made from the
545     local machine.  The user should not manually set DISPLAY.  Forwarding of
546     X11 connections can be configured on the command line or in configuration
547     files.
548
549     The DISPLAY value set by ssh will point to the server machine, but with a
550     display number greater than zero.  This is normal, and happens because
551     ssh creates a “proxy” X server on the server machine for forwarding the
552     connections over the encrypted channel.
553
554     ssh will also automatically set up Xauthority data on the server machine.
555     For this purpose, it will generate a random authorization cookie, store
556     it in Xauthority on the server, and verify that any forwarded connections
557     carry this cookie and replace it by the real cookie when the connection
558     is opened.  The real authentication cookie is never sent to the server
559     machine (and no cookies are sent in the plain).
560
561     If the ForwardAgent variable is set to “yes” (or see the description of
562     the -A and -a options above) and the user is using an authentication
563     agent, the connection to the agent is automatically forwarded to the
564     remote side.
565

VERIFYING HOST KEYS

567     When connecting to a server for the first time, a fingerprint of the
568     server's public key is presented to the user (unless the option
569     StrictHostKeyChecking has been disabled).  Fingerprints can be determined
570     using ssh-keygen(1):
571
572           $ ssh-keygen -l -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
573
574     If the fingerprint is already known, it can be matched and verified, and
575     the key can be accepted.  If the fingerprint is unknown, an alternative
576     method of verification is available: SSH fingerprints verified by DNS.
577     An additional resource record (RR), SSHFP, is added to a zonefile and the
578     connecting client is able to match the fingerprint with that of the key
579     presented.
580
581     In this example, we are connecting a client to a server,
582     “host.example.com”.  The SSHFP resource records should first be added to
583     the zonefile for host.example.com:
584
585           $ ssh-keygen -r host.example.com.
586
587     The output lines will have to be added to the zonefile.  To check that
588     the zone is answering fingerprint queries:
589
590           $ dig -t SSHFP host.example.com
591
592     Finally the client connects:
593
594           $ ssh -o "VerifyHostKeyDNS ask" host.example.com
595           [...]
596           Matching host key fingerprint found in DNS.
597           Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?
598
599     See the VerifyHostKeyDNS option in ssh_config(5) for more information.
600

SSH-BASED VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS

602     ssh contains support for Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnelling using
603     the tun(4) network pseudo-device, allowing two networks to be joined
604     securely.  The sshd_config(5) configuration option PermitTunnel controls
605     whether the server supports this, and at what level (layer 2 or 3 traf‐
606     fic).
607
608     The following example would connect client network 10.0.50.0/24 with
609     remote network 10.0.99.0/24 using a point-to-point connection from
610     10.1.1.1 to 10.1.1.2, provided that the SSH server running on the gateway
611     to the remote network, at 192.168.1.15, allows it.
612
613     On the client:
614
615           # ssh -f -w 0:1 192.168.1.15 true
616           # ifconfig tun0 10.1.1.1 10.1.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.252
617           # route add 10.0.99.0/24 10.1.1.2
618
619     On the server:
620
621           # ifconfig tun1 10.1.1.2 10.1.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.252
622           # route add 10.0.50.0/24 10.1.1.1
623
624     Client access may be more finely tuned via the /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
625     file (see below) and the PermitRootLogin server option.  The following
626     entry would permit connections on tun(4) device 1 from user “jane” and on
627     tun device 2 from user “john”, if PermitRootLogin is set to
628     “forced-commands-only”:
629
630       tunnel="1",command="sh /etc/netstart tun1" ssh-rsa ... jane
631       tunnel="2",command="sh /etc/netstart tun2" ssh-rsa ... john
632
633     Since an SSH-based setup entails a fair amount of overhead, it may be
634     more suited to temporary setups, such as for wireless VPNs.  More perma‐
635     nent VPNs are better provided by tools such as ipsecctl(8) and
636     isakmpd(8).
637

ENVIRONMENT

639     ssh will normally set the following environment variables:
640
641     DISPLAY               The DISPLAY variable indicates the location of the
642                           X11 server.  It is automatically set by ssh to
643                           point to a value of the form “hostname:n”, where
644                           “hostname” indicates the host where the shell runs,
645                           and ‘n’ is an integer ≥ 1.  ssh uses this special
646                           value to forward X11 connections over the secure
647                           channel.  The user should normally not set DISPLAY
648                           explicitly, as that will render the X11 connection
649                           insecure (and will require the user to manually
650                           copy any required authorization cookies).
651
652     HOME                  Set to the path of the user's home directory.
653
654     LOGNAME               Synonym for USER; set for compatibility with sys‐
655                           tems that use this variable.
656
657     MAIL                  Set to the path of the user's mailbox.
658
659     PATH                  Set to the default PATH, as specified when compil‐
660                           ing ssh.
661
662     SSH_ASKPASS           If ssh needs a passphrase, it will read the
663                           passphrase from the current terminal if it was run
664                           from a terminal.  If ssh does not have a terminal
665                           associated with it but DISPLAY and SSH_ASKPASS are
666                           set, it will execute the program specified by
667                           SSH_ASKPASS and open an X11 window to read the
668                           passphrase.  This is particularly useful when call‐
669                           ing ssh from a .xsession or related script.  (Note
670                           that on some machines it may be necessary to redi‐
671                           rect the input from /dev/null to make this work.)
672
673     SSH_AUTH_SOCK         Identifies the path of a UNIX-domain socket used to
674                           communicate with the agent.
675
676     SSH_CONNECTION        Identifies the client and server ends of the con‐
677                           nection.  The variable contains four space-sepa‐
678                           rated values: client IP address, client port num‐
679                           ber, server IP address, and server port number.
680
681     SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND  This variable contains the original command line if
682                           a forced command is executed.  It can be used to
683                           extract the original arguments.
684
685     SSH_TTY               This is set to the name of the tty (path to the
686                           device) associated with the current shell or com‐
687                           mand.  If the current session has no tty, this
688                           variable is not set.
689
690     TZ                    This variable is set to indicate the present time
691                           zone if it was set when the daemon was started
692                           (i.e. the daemon passes the value on to new connec‐
693                           tions).
694
695     USER                  Set to the name of the user logging in.
696
697     Additionally, ssh reads ~/.ssh/environment, and adds lines of the format
698     “VARNAME=value” to the environment if the file exists and users are
699     allowed to change their environment.  For more information, see the
700     PermitUserEnvironment option in sshd_config(5).
701

FILES

703     ~/.rhosts
704             This file is used for host-based authentication (see above).  On
705             some machines this file may need to be world-readable if the
706             user's home directory is on an NFS partition, because sshd(8)
707             reads it as root.  Additionally, this file must be owned by the
708             user, and must not have write permissions for anyone else.  The
709             recommended permission for most machines is read/write for the
710             user, and not accessible by others.
711
712     ~/.shosts
713             This file is used in exactly the same way as .rhosts, but allows
714             host-based authentication without permitting login with
715             rlogin/rsh.
716
717     ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
718             Lists the public keys (RSA/DSA) that can be used for logging in
719             as this user.  The format of this file is described in the
720             sshd(8) manual page.  This file is not highly sensitive, but the
721             recommended permissions are read/write for the user, and not
722             accessible by others.
723
724     ~/.ssh/config
725             This is the per-user configuration file.  The file format and
726             configuration options are described in ssh_config(5).  Because of
727             the potential for abuse, this file must have strict permissions:
728             read/write for the user, and not accessible by others.
729
730     ~/.ssh/environment
731             Contains additional definitions for environment variables; see
732             ENVIRONMENT, above.
733
734     ~/.ssh/identity
735     ~/.ssh/id_dsa
736     ~/.ssh/id_rsa
737             Contains the private key for authentication.  These files contain
738             sensitive data and should be readable by the user but not acces‐
739             sible by others (read/write/execute).  ssh will simply ignore a
740             private key file if it is accessible by others.  It is possible
741             to specify a passphrase when generating the key which will be
742             used to encrypt the sensitive part of this file using 3DES.
743
744     ~/.ssh/identity.pub
745     ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
746     ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
747             Contains the public key for authentication.  These files are not
748             sensitive and can (but need not) be readable by anyone.
749
750     ~/.ssh/known_hosts
751             Contains a list of host keys for all hosts the user has logged
752             into that are not already in the systemwide list of known host
753             keys.  See sshd(8) for further details of the format of this
754             file.
755
756     ~/.ssh/rc
757             Commands in this file are executed by ssh when the user logs in,
758             just before the user's shell (or command) is started.  See the
759             sshd(8) manual page for more information.
760
761     /etc/hosts.equiv
762             This file is for host-based authentication (see above).  It
763             should only be writable by root.
764
765     /etc/ssh/shosts.equiv
766             This file is used in exactly the same way as hosts.equiv, but
767             allows host-based authentication without permitting login with
768             rlogin/rsh.
769
770     /etc/ssh/ssh_config
771             Systemwide configuration file.  The file format and configuration
772             options are described in ssh_config(5).
773
774     /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
775     /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
776     /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
777             These three files contain the private parts of the host keys and
778             are used for host-based authentication.  If protocol version 1 is
779             used, ssh must be setuid root, since the host key is readable
780             only by root.  For protocol version 2, ssh uses ssh-keysign(8) to
781             access the host keys, eliminating the requirement that ssh be
782             setuid root when host-based authentication is used.  By default
783             ssh is not setuid root.
784
785     /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
786             Systemwide list of known host keys.  This file should be prepared
787             by the system administrator to contain the public host keys of
788             all machines in the organization.  It should be world-readable.
789             See sshd(8) for further details of the format of this file.
790
791     /etc/ssh/sshrc
792             Commands in this file are executed by ssh when the user logs in,
793             just before the user's shell (or command) is started.  See the
794             sshd(8) manual page for more information.
795

SEE ALSO

797     scp(1), sftp(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-agent(1), ssh-keygen(1), ssh-keyscan(1),
798     tun(4), hosts.equiv(5), ssh_config(5), ssh-keysign(8), sshd(8)
799
800     The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Assigned Numbers, RFC 4250, 2006.
801
802     The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Architecture, RFC 4251, 2006.
803
804     The Secure Shell (SSH) Authentication Protocol, RFC 4252, 2006.
805
806     The Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer Protocol, RFC 4253, 2006.
807
808     The Secure Shell (SSH) Connection Protocol, RFC 4254, 2006.
809
810     Using DNS to Securely Publish Secure Shell (SSH) Key Fingerprints, RFC
811     4255, 2006.
812
813     Generic Message Exchange Authentication for the Secure Shell Protocol
814     (SSH), RFC 4256, 2006.
815
816     The Secure Shell (SSH) Session Channel Break Extension, RFC 4335, 2006.
817
818     The Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer Encryption Modes, RFC 4344, 2006.
819
820     Improved Arcfour Modes for the Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer
821     Protocol, RFC 4345, 2006.
822
823     Diffie-Hellman Group Exchange for the Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer
824     Protocol, RFC 4419, 2006.
825

AUTHORS

827     OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free ssh 1.2.12 release by
828     Tatu Ylonen.  Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos, Theo
829     de Raadt and Dug Song removed many bugs, re-added newer features and cre‐
830     ated OpenSSH.  Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH protocol
831     versions 1.5 and 2.0.
832
833BSD                           September 25, 1999                           BSD
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