OpenSSH Secure Shell

OpenSSH version

Tested with OpenSSH 4.1p1.

Introduction

SSH (Secure Shell) is a way of logging into a remote machine over an encrypted connection. You'll need it in order to be able to administer your server remotely.

Installation

Download the portable (Linux-compatible) version of the OpenSSH source code.

Install prerequisites:

sudo apt-get install zlib1g-dev libpam0g-dev libssl-dev

Uninstall the Debian ssh package:

sudo /etc/init.d/ssh stop
sudo apt-get remove ssh

Move our current ssh config to the new location:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/ssh
sudo mv /etc/ssh /usr/local/ssh/etc
sudo ln -s /usr/local/ssh/etc /etc/ssh

Install /usr/local/configure-wrappers/configure-ssh (make it world-executable).

Compile and install ssh:

tar zxf openssh-x.y.z.tar.gz
cd openssh-x.y.z
/usr/local/configure-wrappers/configure-ssh
make
sudo make install

Install /etc/init.d/ssh (make it world-exectuable).

In /etc/profile, add /usr/local/ssh/bin to LOCAL_PATH, and add /usr/local/ssh/man to LOCAL_MANPATH.

Install /usr/local/ssh/etc/sshd_config.

Restart sshd:

sudo /etc/init.d/ssh start

Fix the broken rsh broken symlink, which needs to point to current ssh binary:

sudo ln -sf /usr/local/ssh/bin/ssh /etc/alternatives/rsh

Testing

If you're not familiar with SSH, see Getting Started with SSH for information on how to use the command-line SSH client under Linux. Then try to use ssh to log into the server from a remote machine.

Upgrading

tar zxf openssh-x.y.z.tar.gz
cd openssh-x.y.z
/usr/local/configure-wrappers/configure-ssh
make
sudo make install
sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart

If you're logged in via ssh while doing this, your connection to the old version of the daemon will persist until you log out, so log out and in again.
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