3 .\" Author: Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>
4 .\" Copyright (c) 1995 Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>, Espoo, Finland
5 .\" All rights reserved
7 .\" As far as I am concerned, the code I have written for this software
8 .\" can be used freely for any purpose. Any derived versions of this
9 .\" software must be clearly marked as such, and if the derived work is
10 .\" incompatible with the protocol description in the RFC file, it must be
11 .\" called by a name other than "ssh" or "Secure Shell".
13 .\" Copyright (c) 1999,2000 Markus Friedl. All rights reserved.
14 .\" Copyright (c) 1999 Aaron Campbell. All rights reserved.
15 .\" Copyright (c) 1999 Theo de Raadt. All rights reserved.
17 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
18 .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
20 .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
21 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
22 .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
23 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
24 .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
26 .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
27 .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
28 .\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.
29 .\" IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
30 .\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
31 .\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
32 .\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
33 .\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
34 .\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
35 .\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
37 .\" $OpenBSD: ssh.1,v 1.278 2008/10/08 23:34:03 djm Exp $
43 .Nd OpenSSH SSH client (remote login program)
46 .Op Fl 1246AaCfgKkMNnqsTtVvXxYy
47 .Op Fl b Ar bind_address
48 .Op Fl c Ar cipher_spec
51 .Oo Ar bind_address : Oc
55 .Op Fl e Ar escape_char
56 .Op Fl F Ar configfile
58 .Op Fl i Ar identity_file
62 .Oo Ar bind_address : Oc
63 .Ar port : host : hostport
67 .Op Fl l Ar login_name
75 .Oo Ar bind_address : Oc
76 .Ar port : host : hostport
81 .Oo Fl w Ar local_tun Ns
82 .Op : Ns Ar remote_tun Oc
83 .Oo Ar user Ns @ Oc Ns Ar hostname
88 (SSH client) is a program for logging into a remote machine and for
89 executing commands on a remote machine.
90 It is intended to replace rlogin and rsh,
91 and provide secure encrypted communications between
92 two untrusted hosts over an insecure network.
93 X11 connections and arbitrary TCP ports
94 can also be forwarded over the secure channel.
97 connects and logs into the specified
103 his/her identity to the remote machine using one of several methods
104 depending on the protocol version used (see below).
109 it is executed on the remote host instead of a login shell.
111 The options are as follows:
116 to try protocol version 1 only.
120 to try protocol version 2 only.
124 to use IPv4 addresses only.
128 to use IPv6 addresses only.
130 Enables forwarding of the authentication agent connection.
131 This can also be specified on a per-host basis in a configuration file.
133 Agent forwarding should be enabled with caution.
134 Users with the ability to bypass file permissions on the remote host
135 (for the agent's Unix-domain socket)
136 can access the local agent through the forwarded connection.
137 An attacker cannot obtain key material from the agent,
138 however they can perform operations on the keys that enable them to
139 authenticate using the identities loaded into the agent.
141 Disables forwarding of the authentication agent connection.
142 .It Fl b Ar bind_address
145 on the local machine as the source address
147 Only useful on systems with more than one address.
149 Requests compression of all data (including stdin, stdout, stderr, and
150 data for forwarded X11 and TCP connections).
151 The compression algorithm is the same used by
155 can be controlled by the
157 option for protocol version 1.
158 Compression is desirable on modem lines and other
159 slow connections, but will only slow down things on fast networks.
160 The default value can be set on a host-by-host basis in the
161 configuration files; see the
164 .It Fl c Ar cipher_spec
165 Selects the cipher specification for encrypting the session.
167 Protocol version 1 allows specification of a single cipher.
168 The supported values are
174 (triple-des) is an encrypt-decrypt-encrypt triple with three different keys.
175 It is believed to be secure.
177 is a fast block cipher; it appears very secure and is much faster than
180 is only supported in the
182 client for interoperability with legacy protocol 1 implementations
183 that do not support the
186 Its use is strongly discouraged due to cryptographic weaknesses.
190 For protocol version 2,
192 is a comma-separated list of ciphers
193 listed in order of preference.
194 The supported ciphers are:
209 .Bd -literal -offset indent
210 aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,arcfour128,
211 arcfour256,arcfour,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,aes128-ctr,
212 aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
216 .Oo Ar bind_address : Oc
222 application-level port forwarding.
223 This works by allocating a socket to listen to
225 on the local side, optionally bound to the specified
227 Whenever a connection is made to this port, the
228 connection is forwarded over the secure channel, and the application
229 protocol is then used to determine where to connect to from the
231 Currently the SOCKS4 and SOCKS5 protocols are supported, and
233 will act as a SOCKS server.
234 Only root can forward privileged ports.
235 Dynamic port forwardings can also be specified in the configuration file.
237 IPv6 addresses can be specified with an alternative syntax:
240 .Op Ar bind_address No /
244 or by enclosing the address in square brackets.
245 Only the superuser can forward privileged ports.
246 By default, the local port is bound in accordance with the
251 may be used to bind the connection to a specific address.
256 indicates that the listening port be bound for local use only, while an
259 indicates that the port should be available from all interfaces.
260 .It Fl e Ar escape_char
261 Sets the escape character for sessions with a pty (default:
263 The escape character is only recognized at the beginning of a line.
264 The escape character followed by a dot
266 closes the connection;
267 followed by control-Z suspends the connection;
268 and followed by itself sends the escape character once.
269 Setting the character to
271 disables any escapes and makes the session fully transparent.
272 .It Fl F Ar configfile
273 Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file.
274 If a configuration file is given on the command line,
275 the system-wide configuration file
276 .Pq Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_config
278 The default for the per-user configuration file is
283 to go to background just before command execution.
286 is going to ask for passwords or passphrases, but the user
287 wants it in the background.
290 The recommended way to start X11 programs at a remote site is with
292 .Ic ssh -f host xterm .
295 .Cm ExitOnForwardFailure
296 configuration option is set to
298 then a client started with
300 will wait for all remote port forwards to be successfully established
301 before placing itself in the background.
303 Allows remote hosts to connect to local forwarded ports.
304 .It Fl I Ar smartcard_device
307 should use to communicate with a smartcard used for storing the user's
309 This option is only available if support for smartcard devices
310 is compiled in (default is no support).
311 .It Fl i Ar identity_file
312 Selects a file from which the identity (private key) for
313 RSA or DSA authentication is read.
316 for protocol version 1, and
320 for protocol version 2.
321 Identity files may also be specified on
322 a per-host basis in the configuration file.
323 It is possible to have multiple
325 options (and multiple identities specified in
326 configuration files).
328 Enables GSSAPI-based authentication and forwarding (delegation) of GSSAPI
329 credentials to the server.
331 Disables forwarding (delegation) of GSSAPI credentials to the server.
334 .Oo Ar bind_address : Oc
335 .Ar port : host : hostport
338 Specifies that the given port on the local (client) host is to be
339 forwarded to the given host and port on the remote side.
340 This works by allocating a socket to listen to
342 on the local side, optionally bound to the specified
344 Whenever a connection is made to this port, the
345 connection is forwarded over the secure channel, and a connection is
350 from the remote machine.
351 Port forwardings can also be specified in the configuration file.
352 IPv6 addresses can be specified with an alternative syntax:
355 .Op Ar bind_address No /
356 .Ar port No / Ar host No /
360 or by enclosing the address in square brackets.
361 Only the superuser can forward privileged ports.
362 By default, the local port is bound in accordance with the
367 may be used to bind the connection to a specific address.
372 indicates that the listening port be bound for local use only, while an
375 indicates that the port should be available from all interfaces.
376 .It Fl l Ar login_name
377 Specifies the user to log in as on the remote machine.
378 This also may be specified on a per-host basis in the configuration file.
384 mode for connection sharing.
391 mode with confirmation required before slave connections are accepted.
392 Refer to the description of
398 Additionally, for protocol version 2 a comma-separated list of MAC
399 (message authentication code) algorithms can
400 be specified in order of preference.
403 keyword for more information.
405 Do not execute a remote command.
406 This is useful for just forwarding ports
407 (protocol version 2 only).
411 (actually, prevents reading from stdin).
412 This must be used when
414 is run in the background.
415 A common trick is to use this to run X11 programs on a remote machine.
417 .Ic ssh -n shadows.cs.hut.fi emacs &
418 will start an emacs on shadows.cs.hut.fi, and the X11
419 connection will be automatically forwarded over an encrypted channel.
422 program will be put in the background.
423 (This does not work if
425 needs to ask for a password or passphrase; see also the
429 Control an active connection multiplexing master process.
432 option is specified, the
434 argument is interpreted and passed to the master process.
437 (check that the master process is running) and
439 (request the master to exit).
441 Can be used to give options in the format used in the configuration file.
442 This is useful for specifying options for which there is no separate
444 For full details of the options listed below, and their possible values, see
447 .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
451 .It ChallengeResponseAuthentication
455 .It ClearAllForwardings
458 .It ConnectionAttempts
464 .It ExitOnForwardFailure
467 .It ForwardX11Trusted
469 .It GlobalKnownHostsFile
470 .It GSSAPIAuthentication
471 .It GSSAPIDelegateCredentials
474 .It HostbasedAuthentication
475 .It HostKeyAlgorithms
480 .It KbdInteractiveDevices
485 .It NoHostAuthenticationForLocalhost
486 .It NumberOfPasswordPrompts
487 .It PasswordAuthentication
488 .It PermitLocalCommand
490 .It PreferredAuthentications
493 .It PubkeyAuthentication
496 .It RhostsRSAAuthentication
497 .It RSAAuthentication
499 .It ServerAliveInterval
500 .It ServerAliveCountMax
502 .It StrictHostKeyChecking
506 .It UsePrivilegedPort
508 .It UserKnownHostsFile
514 Port to connect to on the remote host.
515 This can be specified on a
516 per-host basis in the configuration file.
519 Causes most warning and diagnostic messages to be suppressed.
522 .Oo Ar bind_address : Oc
523 .Ar port : host : hostport
526 Specifies that the given port on the remote (server) host is to be
527 forwarded to the given host and port on the local side.
528 This works by allocating a socket to listen to
530 on the remote side, and whenever a connection is made to this port, the
531 connection is forwarded over the secure channel, and a connection is
536 from the local machine.
538 Port forwardings can also be specified in the configuration file.
539 Privileged ports can be forwarded only when
540 logging in as root on the remote machine.
541 IPv6 addresses can be specified by enclosing the address in square braces or
542 using an alternative syntax:
545 .Op Ar bind_address No /
546 .Ar host No / Ar port No /
551 By default, the listening socket on the server will be bound to the loopback
553 This may be overriden by specifying a
559 indicates that the remote socket should listen on all interfaces.
562 will only succeed if the server's
564 option is enabled (see
565 .Xr sshd_config 5 ) .
567 Specifies the location of a control socket for connection sharing.
568 Refer to the description of
576 May be used to request invocation of a subsystem on the remote system.
577 Subsystems are a feature of the SSH2 protocol which facilitate the use
578 of SSH as a secure transport for other applications (eg.\&
580 The subsystem is specified as the remote command.
582 Disable pseudo-tty allocation.
584 Force pseudo-tty allocation.
585 This can be used to execute arbitrary
586 screen-based programs on a remote machine, which can be very useful,
587 e.g. when implementing menu services.
590 options force tty allocation, even if
594 Display the version number and exit.
599 to print debugging messages about its progress.
601 debugging connection, authentication, and configuration problems.
604 options increase the verbosity.
607 .Ar local_tun Ns Op : Ns Ar remote_tun
611 device forwarding with the specified
613 devices between the client
618 The devices may be specified by numerical ID or the keyword
620 which uses the next available tunnel device.
623 is not specified, it defaults to
633 directive is unset, it is set to the default tunnel mode, which is
636 Enables X11 forwarding.
637 This can also be specified on a per-host basis in a configuration file.
639 X11 forwarding should be enabled with caution.
640 Users with the ability to bypass file permissions on the remote host
641 (for the user's X authorization database)
642 can access the local X11 display through the forwarded connection.
643 An attacker may then be able to perform activities such as keystroke monitoring.
645 For this reason, X11 forwarding is subjected to X11 SECURITY extension
646 restrictions by default.
651 .Cm ForwardX11Trusted
654 for more information.
656 Disables X11 forwarding.
658 Enables trusted X11 forwarding.
659 Trusted X11 forwardings are not subjected to the X11 SECURITY extension
662 Send log information using the
665 By default this information is sent to stderr.
669 may additionally obtain configuration data from
670 a per-user configuration file and a system-wide configuration file.
671 The file format and configuration options are described in
675 exits with the exit status of the remote command or with 255
676 if an error occurred.
678 The OpenSSH SSH client supports SSH protocols 1 and 2.
679 Protocol 2 is the default, with
681 falling back to protocol 1 if it detects protocol 2 is unsupported.
682 These settings may be altered using the
686 or enforced using the
691 Both protocols support similar authentication methods,
692 but protocol 2 is preferred since
693 it provides additional mechanisms for confidentiality
694 (the traffic is encrypted using AES, 3DES, Blowfish, CAST128, or Arcfour)
695 and integrity (hmac-md5, hmac-sha1, umac-64, hmac-ripemd160).
696 Protocol 1 lacks a strong mechanism for ensuring the
697 integrity of the connection.
699 The methods available for authentication are:
700 GSSAPI-based authentication,
701 host-based authentication,
702 public key authentication,
703 challenge-response authentication,
704 and password authentication.
705 Authentication methods are tried in the order specified above,
706 though protocol 2 has a configuration option to change the default order:
707 .Cm PreferredAuthentications .
709 Host-based authentication works as follows:
710 If the machine the user logs in from is listed in
713 .Pa /etc/shosts.equiv
714 on the remote machine, and the user names are
715 the same on both sides, or if the files
719 exist in the user's home directory on the
720 remote machine and contain a line containing the name of the client
721 machine and the name of the user on that machine, the user is
722 considered for login.
723 Additionally, the server
725 be able to verify the client's
726 host key (see the description of
727 .Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
729 .Pa ~/.ssh/known_hosts ,
731 for login to be permitted.
732 This authentication method closes security holes due to IP
733 spoofing, DNS spoofing, and routing spoofing.
734 [Note to the administrator:
735 .Pa /etc/hosts.equiv ,
737 and the rlogin/rsh protocol in general, are inherently insecure and should be
738 disabled if security is desired.]
740 Public key authentication works as follows:
741 The scheme is based on public-key cryptography,
743 where encryption and decryption are done using separate keys,
744 and it is unfeasible to derive the decryption key from the encryption key.
745 The idea is that each user creates a public/private
746 key pair for authentication purposes.
747 The server knows the public key, and only the user knows the private key.
749 implements public key authentication protocol automatically,
750 using either the RSA or DSA algorithms.
751 Protocol 1 is restricted to using only RSA keys,
752 but protocol 2 may use either.
757 contains a brief discussion of the two algorithms.
760 .Pa ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
761 lists the public keys that are permitted for logging in.
762 When the user logs in, the
764 program tells the server which key pair it would like to use for
766 The client proves that it has access to the private key
767 and the server checks that the corresponding public key
768 is authorized to accept the account.
770 The user creates his/her key pair by running
772 This stores the private key in
780 and stores the public key in
781 .Pa ~/.ssh/identity.pub
783 .Pa ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
786 .Pa ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
788 in the user's home directory.
789 The user should then copy the public key
791 .Pa ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
792 in his/her home directory on the remote machine.
795 file corresponds to the conventional
797 file, and has one key
798 per line, though the lines can be very long.
799 After this, the user can log in without giving the password.
801 The most convenient way to use public key authentication may be with an
802 authentication agent.
805 for more information.
807 Challenge-response authentication works as follows:
808 The server sends an arbitrary
810 text, and prompts for a response.
811 Protocol 2 allows multiple challenges and responses;
812 protocol 1 is restricted to just one challenge/response.
813 Examples of challenge-response authentication include
814 BSD Authentication (see
816 and PAM (some non-OpenBSD systems).
818 Finally, if other authentication methods fail,
820 prompts the user for a password.
821 The password is sent to the remote
822 host for checking; however, since all communications are encrypted,
823 the password cannot be seen by someone listening on the network.
826 automatically maintains and checks a database containing
827 identification for all hosts it has ever been used with.
828 Host keys are stored in
829 .Pa ~/.ssh/known_hosts
830 in the user's home directory.
831 Additionally, the file
832 .Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
833 is automatically checked for known hosts.
834 Any new hosts are automatically added to the user's file.
835 If a host's identification ever changes,
837 warns about this and disables password authentication to prevent
838 server spoofing or man-in-the-middle attacks,
839 which could otherwise be used to circumvent the encryption.
841 .Cm StrictHostKeyChecking
842 option can be used to control logins to machines whose
843 host key is not known or has changed.
845 When the user's identity has been accepted by the server, the server
846 either executes the given command, or logs into the machine and gives
847 the user a normal shell on the remote machine.
848 All communication with
849 the remote command or shell will be automatically encrypted.
851 If a pseudo-terminal has been allocated (normal login session), the
852 user may use the escape characters noted below.
854 If no pseudo-tty has been allocated,
855 the session is transparent and can be used to reliably transfer binary data.
856 On most systems, setting the escape character to
858 will also make the session transparent even if a tty is used.
860 The session terminates when the command or shell on the remote
861 machine exits and all X11 and TCP connections have been closed.
862 .Sh ESCAPE CHARACTERS
863 When a pseudo-terminal has been requested,
865 supports a number of functions through the use of an escape character.
867 A single tilde character can be sent as
869 or by following the tilde by a character other than those described below.
870 The escape character must always follow a newline to be interpreted as
872 The escape character can be changed in configuration files using the
874 configuration directive or on the command line by the
878 The supported escapes (assuming the default
888 List forwarded connections.
892 at logout when waiting for forwarded connection / X11 sessions to terminate.
894 Display a list of escape characters.
896 Send a BREAK to the remote system
897 (only useful for SSH protocol version 2 and if the peer supports it).
900 Currently this allows the addition of port forwardings using the
905 It also allows the cancellation of existing remote port-forwardings
908 .Fl KR Oo Ar bind_address : Oc Ar port .
910 .Ic !\& Ns Ar command
911 allows the user to execute a local command if the
912 .Ic PermitLocalCommand
915 Basic help is available, using the
919 Request rekeying of the connection
920 (only useful for SSH protocol version 2 and if the peer supports it).
923 Forwarding of arbitrary TCP connections over the secure channel can
924 be specified either on the command line or in a configuration file.
925 One possible application of TCP forwarding is a secure connection to a
926 mail server; another is going through firewalls.
928 In the example below, we look at encrypting communication between
929 an IRC client and server, even though the IRC server does not directly
930 support encrypted communications.
931 This works as follows:
932 the user connects to the remote host using
934 specifying a port to be used to forward connections
935 to the remote server.
936 After that it is possible to start the service which is to be encrypted
937 on the client machine,
938 connecting to the same local port,
941 will encrypt and forward the connection.
943 The following example tunnels an IRC session from client machine
947 .Dq server.example.com :
948 .Bd -literal -offset 4n
949 $ ssh -f -L 1234:localhost:6667 server.example.com sleep 10
950 $ irc -c '#users' -p 1234 pinky 127.0.0.1
953 This tunnels a connection to IRC server
954 .Dq server.example.com ,
960 It doesn't matter which port is used,
961 as long as it's greater than 1023
962 (remember, only root can open sockets on privileged ports)
963 and doesn't conflict with any ports already in use.
964 The connection is forwarded to port 6667 on the remote server,
965 since that's the standard port for IRC services.
971 and the remote command
973 is specified to allow an amount of time
974 (10 seconds, in the example)
975 to start the service which is to be tunnelled.
976 If no connections are made within the time specified,
984 (or see the description of the
990 and the user is using X11 (the
992 environment variable is set), the connection to the X11 display is
993 automatically forwarded to the remote side in such a way that any X11
994 programs started from the shell (or command) will go through the
995 encrypted channel, and the connection to the real X server will be made
996 from the local machine.
997 The user should not manually set
999 Forwarding of X11 connections can be
1000 configured on the command line or in configuration files.
1006 will point to the server machine, but with a display number greater than zero.
1007 This is normal, and happens because
1011 X server on the server machine for forwarding the
1012 connections over the encrypted channel.
1015 will also automatically set up Xauthority data on the server machine.
1016 For this purpose, it will generate a random authorization cookie,
1017 store it in Xauthority on the server, and verify that any forwarded
1018 connections carry this cookie and replace it by the real cookie when
1019 the connection is opened.
1020 The real authentication cookie is never
1021 sent to the server machine (and no cookies are sent in the plain).
1027 (or see the description of the
1032 the user is using an authentication agent, the connection to the agent
1033 is automatically forwarded to the remote side.
1034 .Sh VERIFYING HOST KEYS
1035 When connecting to a server for the first time,
1036 a fingerprint of the server's public key is presented to the user
1038 .Cm StrictHostKeyChecking
1040 Fingerprints can be determined using
1043 .Dl $ ssh-keygen -l -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
1045 If the fingerprint is already known, it can be matched
1046 and the key can be accepted or rejected.
1047 Because of the difficulty of comparing host keys
1048 just by looking at hex strings,
1049 there is also support to compare host keys visually,
1056 a small ASCII graphic gets displayed on every login to a server, no matter
1057 if the session itself is interactive or not.
1058 By learning the pattern a known server produces, a user can easily
1059 find out that the host key has changed when a completely different pattern
1061 Because these patterns are not unambiguous however, a pattern that looks
1062 similar to the pattern remembered only gives a good probability that the
1063 host key is the same, not guaranteed proof.
1065 To get a listing of the fingerprints along with their random art for
1066 all known hosts, the following command line can be used:
1068 .Dl $ ssh-keygen -lv -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts
1070 If the fingerprint is unknown,
1071 an alternative method of verification is available:
1072 SSH fingerprints verified by DNS.
1073 An additional resource record (RR),
1075 is added to a zonefile
1076 and the connecting client is able to match the fingerprint
1077 with that of the key presented.
1079 In this example, we are connecting a client to a server,
1080 .Dq host.example.com .
1081 The SSHFP resource records should first be added to the zonefile for
1083 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1084 $ ssh-keygen -r host.example.com.
1087 The output lines will have to be added to the zonefile.
1088 To check that the zone is answering fingerprint queries:
1090 .Dl $ dig -t SSHFP host.example.com
1092 Finally the client connects:
1093 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1094 $ ssh -o "VerifyHostKeyDNS ask" host.example.com
1096 Matching host key fingerprint found in DNS.
1097 Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?
1101 .Cm VerifyHostKeyDNS
1104 for more information.
1105 .Sh SSH-BASED VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS
1107 contains support for Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnelling
1110 network pseudo-device,
1111 allowing two networks to be joined securely.
1114 configuration option
1116 controls whether the server supports this,
1117 and at what level (layer 2 or 3 traffic).
1119 The following example would connect client network 10.0.50.0/24
1120 with remote network 10.0.99.0/24 using a point-to-point connection
1121 from 10.1.1.1 to 10.1.1.2,
1122 provided that the SSH server running on the gateway to the remote network,
1123 at 192.168.1.15, allows it.
1126 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1127 # ssh -f -w 0:1 192.168.1.15 true
1128 # ifconfig tun0 10.1.1.1 10.1.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.252
1129 # route add 10.0.99.0/24 10.1.1.2
1133 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1134 # ifconfig tun1 10.1.1.2 10.1.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.252
1135 # route add 10.0.50.0/24 10.1.1.1
1138 Client access may be more finely tuned via the
1139 .Pa /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
1140 file (see below) and the
1143 The following entry would permit connections on
1147 and on tun device 2 from user
1152 .Dq forced-commands-only :
1153 .Bd -literal -offset 2n
1154 tunnel="1",command="sh /etc/netstart tun1" ssh-rsa ... jane
1155 tunnel="2",command="sh /etc/netstart tun2" ssh-rsa ... john
1158 Since an SSH-based setup entails a fair amount of overhead,
1159 it may be more suited to temporary setups,
1160 such as for wireless VPNs.
1161 More permanent VPNs are better provided by tools such as
1167 will normally set the following environment variables:
1168 .Bl -tag -width "SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND"
1172 variable indicates the location of the X11 server.
1173 It is automatically set by
1175 to point to a value of the form
1179 indicates the host where the shell runs, and
1181 is an integer \*(Ge 1.
1183 uses this special value to forward X11 connections over the secure
1185 The user should normally not set
1188 will render the X11 connection insecure (and will require the user to
1189 manually copy any required authorization cookies).
1191 Set to the path of the user's home directory.
1195 set for compatibility with systems that use this variable.
1197 Set to the path of the user's mailbox.
1201 as specified when compiling
1206 needs a passphrase, it will read the passphrase from the current
1207 terminal if it was run from a terminal.
1210 does not have a terminal associated with it but
1214 are set, it will execute the program specified by
1216 and open an X11 window to read the passphrase.
1217 This is particularly useful when calling
1222 (Note that on some machines it
1223 may be necessary to redirect the input from
1226 .It Ev SSH_AUTH_SOCK
1227 Identifies the path of a
1229 socket used to communicate with the agent.
1230 .It Ev SSH_CONNECTION
1231 Identifies the client and server ends of the connection.
1232 The variable contains
1233 four space-separated values: client IP address, client port number,
1234 server IP address, and server port number.
1235 .It Ev SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND
1236 This variable contains the original command line if a forced command
1238 It can be used to extract the original arguments.
1240 This is set to the name of the tty (path to the device) associated
1241 with the current shell or command.
1242 If the current session has no tty,
1243 this variable is not set.
1245 This variable is set to indicate the present time zone if it
1246 was set when the daemon was started (i.e. the daemon passes the value
1247 on to new connections).
1249 Set to the name of the user logging in.
1255 .Pa ~/.ssh/environment ,
1256 and adds lines of the format
1258 to the environment if the file exists and users are allowed to
1259 change their environment.
1260 For more information, see the
1261 .Cm PermitUserEnvironment
1265 .Bl -tag -width Ds -compact
1267 This file is used for host-based authentication (see above).
1268 On some machines this file may need to be
1269 world-readable if the user's home directory is on an NFS partition,
1273 Additionally, this file must be owned by the user,
1274 and must not have write permissions for anyone else.
1276 permission for most machines is read/write for the user, and not
1277 accessible by others.
1280 This file is used in exactly the same way as
1282 but allows host-based authentication without permitting login with
1286 This directory is the default location for all user-specific configuration
1287 and authentication information.
1288 There is no general requirement to keep the entire contents of this directory
1289 secret, but the recommended permissions are read/write/execute for the user,
1290 and not accessible by others.
1292 .It ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
1293 Lists the public keys (RSA/DSA) that can be used for logging in as this user.
1294 The format of this file is described in the
1297 This file is not highly sensitive, but the recommended
1298 permissions are read/write for the user, and not accessible by others.
1301 This is the per-user configuration file.
1302 The file format and configuration options are described in
1304 Because of the potential for abuse, this file must have strict permissions:
1305 read/write for the user, and not accessible by others.
1307 .It ~/.ssh/environment
1308 Contains additional definitions for environment variables; see
1315 Contains the private key for authentication.
1317 contain sensitive data and should be readable by the user but not
1318 accessible by others (read/write/execute).
1320 will simply ignore a private key file if it is accessible by others.
1321 It is possible to specify a passphrase when
1322 generating the key which will be used to encrypt the
1323 sensitive part of this file using 3DES.
1325 .It ~/.ssh/identity.pub
1326 .It ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
1327 .It ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
1328 Contains the public key for authentication.
1330 sensitive and can (but need not) be readable by anyone.
1332 .It ~/.ssh/known_hosts
1333 Contains a list of host keys for all hosts the user has logged into
1334 that are not already in the systemwide list of known host keys.
1337 for further details of the format of this file.
1340 Commands in this file are executed by
1342 when the user logs in, just before the user's shell (or command) is
1346 manual page for more information.
1348 .It /etc/hosts.equiv
1349 This file is for host-based authentication (see above).
1350 It should only be writable by root.
1352 .It /etc/shosts.equiv
1353 This file is used in exactly the same way as
1355 but allows host-based authentication without permitting login with
1358 .It Pa /etc/ssh/ssh_config
1359 Systemwide configuration file.
1360 The file format and configuration options are described in
1363 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
1364 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
1365 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
1366 These three files contain the private parts of the host keys
1367 and are used for host-based authentication.
1368 If protocol version 1 is used,
1370 must be setuid root, since the host key is readable only by root.
1371 For protocol version 2,
1375 to access the host keys,
1376 eliminating the requirement that
1378 be setuid root when host-based authentication is used.
1383 .It /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
1384 Systemwide list of known host keys.
1385 This file should be prepared by the
1386 system administrator to contain the public host keys of all machines in the
1388 It should be world-readable.
1391 for further details of the format of this file.
1394 Commands in this file are executed by
1396 when the user logs in, just before the user's shell (or command) is started.
1399 manual page for more information.
1415 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Assigned Numbers"
1420 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Architecture"
1425 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Authentication Protocol"
1430 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer Protocol"
1435 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Connection Protocol"
1440 .%T "Using DNS to Securely Publish Secure Shell (SSH) Key Fingerprints"
1445 .%T "Generic Message Exchange Authentication for the Secure Shell Protocol (SSH)"
1450 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Session Channel Break Extension"
1455 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer Encryption Modes"
1460 .%T "Improved Arcfour Modes for the Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer Protocol"
1465 .%T "Diffie-Hellman Group Exchange for the Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer Protocol"
1470 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Public Key File Format"
1474 .%T "Hash Visualization: a New Technique to improve Real-World Security"
1478 .%O "International Workshop on Cryptographic Techniques and E-Commerce (CrypTEC '99)"
1481 OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free
1482 ssh 1.2.12 release by Tatu Ylonen.
1483 Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos,
1484 Theo de Raadt and Dug Song
1485 removed many bugs, re-added newer features and
1487 Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH
1488 protocol versions 1.5 and 2.0.