1. Prerequisites ---------------- You will need working installations of Zlib and OpenSSL. Zlib: http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/zlib/ OpenSSL: http://www.openssl.org/ OpenSSH can utilise Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) if your system supports it. PAM is standard on Redhat and Debian Linux and on Solaris. PAM: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/ If you wish to build the GNOME passphrase requestor, you will need the GNOME libraries and headers. GNOME: http://www.gnome.org/ If you are planning to use OpenSSH on a Unix which lacks a Kernel random number generator (/dev/urandom), you will need to install the Entropy Gathering Daemon (or similar). You will also need to specify the --with-egd-pool option to ./configure. EGD: http://www.lothar.com/tech/crypto/ 2. Building / Installation -------------------------- To install OpenSSH with default options: ./configure make make install This will install the OpenSSH binaries in /usr/local/bin, configuration files in /usr/local/etc, the server in /usr/local/sbin, etc. To specify a different installation prefix, use the --prefix option to configure: ./configure --prefix=/opt make make install Will install OpenSSH in /opt/{bin,etc,lib,sbin}. You can also override specific paths, for example: ./configure --prefix=/opt --sysconfdir=/etc/ssh make make install This will install the binaries in /opt/{bin,lib,sbin}, but will place the configuration files in /etc/ssh. There are a few other options to the configure script: --enable-gnome-askpass will build the GNOME passphrase dialog. You need a working installation of GNOME, including the development headers, for this to work. --with-random=/some/file allows you to specify an alternate source of random numbers (the default is /dev/urandom). Unless you are absolutly sure of what you are doing, it is best to leave this alone. --with-egd-pool=/some/file allows you to enable Entropy Gathering Daemon support and to specify a EGD pool socket. You will need to use this if your Unix does not support the /dev/urandom device (or similar). --without-askpass will disable X11 password requestor support in ssh-add 3. Configuration ---------------- The runtime configuration files are installed by in ${prefix}/etc or whatever you specified as your --sysconfdir (/usr/local/etc by default). The default configuration should be instantly usable, though you should review it to ensure that it matches your security requirements. For more information on configuration, please refer to the manual pages for sshd, ssh and ssh-agent.