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SSHD(8)                      System Manager's Manual                    SSHD(8)

NAME
       sshd — OpenSSH daemon

SYNOPSIS
       sshd  [-46DdeGiqTtV]  [-C  connection_spec]  [-c  host_certificate_file]
            [-E    log_file]    [-f    config_file]    [-g    login_grace_time]
            [-h host_key_file] [-o option] [-p port] [-u len]

DESCRIPTION
       sshd (OpenSSH Daemon) is the daemon program for ssh(1).  It provides se-
       cure  encrypted communications between two untrusted hosts over an inse-
       cure network.

       sshd listens for connections from clients.  It is  normally  started  at
       boot from /etc/init.d/ssh.  It forks a new daemon for each incoming con-
       nection.   The forked daemons handle key exchange, encryption, authenti-
       cation, command execution, and data exchange.

       sshd can be configured using command-line  options  or  a  configuration
       file  (by  default sshd_config(5)); command-line options override values
       specified in the configuration file.   sshd  rereads  its  configuration
       file  when it receives a hangup signal, SIGHUP, by executing itself with
       the name and options it was started with, e.g. /usr/sbin/sshd.

       The options are as follows:

       -4      Forces sshd to use IPv4 addresses only.

       -6      Forces sshd to use IPv6 addresses only.

       -C connection_spec
               Specify the connection parameters to use  for  the  -T  extended
               test  mode.  If provided, any Match directives in the configura-
               tion file that would apply are applied before the  configuration
               is  written  to  standard output.  The connection parameters are
               supplied as keyword=value pairs and may be supplied in  any  or-
               der,  either  with  multiple  -C options or as a comma-separated
               list.   The  keywords  are  “addr”,  “user”,  “host”,   “laddr”,
               “lport”,  and  “rdomain” and correspond to source address, user,
               resolved source host name, local address, local port number  and
               routing  domain  respectively.   Additionally the “invalid-user”
               flag (which does not take a value argument) may be specified  to
               simulate a connection from an unrecognised username.

       -c host_certificate_file
               Specifies  a  path to a certificate file to identify sshd during
               key exchange.  The certificate file must match a host  key  file
               specified  using  the -h option or the HostKey configuration di-
               rective.

       -D      When this option is specified, sshd will not detach and does not
               become a daemon.  This allows easy monitoring of sshd.

       -d      Debug mode.  The server sends verbose debug output  to  standard
               error,  and  does  not put itself in the background.  The server
               also will not fork(2) and  will  only  process  one  connection.
               This option is only intended for debugging for the server.  Mul-
               tiple -d options increase the debugging level.  Maximum is 3.

       -E log_file
               Append debug logs to log_file instead of the system log.

       -e      Write debug logs to standard error instead of the system log.

       -f config_file
               Specifies  the  name  of the configuration file.  The default is
               /etc/ssh/sshd_config.  sshd refuses to start if there is no con-
               figuration file.

       -G      Parse and print configuration file.  Check the validity  of  the
               configuration file, output the effective configuration to stdout
               and then exit.  Optionally, Match rules may be applied by speci-
               fying the connection parameters using one or more -C options.

       -g login_grace_time
               Gives the grace time for clients to authenticate themselves (de-
               fault  120  seconds).   If  the client fails to authenticate the
               user within this many seconds, the server disconnects and exits.
               A value of zero indicates no limit.

       -h host_key_file
               Specifies a file from which a host key  is  read.   This  option
               must be given if sshd is not run as root (as the normal host key
               files  are  normally  not readable by anyone but root).  The de-
               fault              is               /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key,
               /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key and /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.  It
               is  possible  to  have multiple host key files for the different
               host key algorithms.

       -i      Specifies that sshd is being run from inetd(8).

       -o option
               Can be used to give options in the format used in the configura-
               tion file.  This is useful  for  specifying  options  for  which
               there is no separate command-line flag.  For full details of the
               options, and their values, see sshd_config(5).

       -p port
               Specifies  the  port on which the server listens for connections
               (default 22).  Multiple port options are permitted.  Ports spec-
               ified in the configuration file with the Port option are ignored
               when a command-line port is specified.   Ports  specified  using
               the ListenAddress option override command-line ports.

       -q      Quiet  mode.   Nothing  is sent to the system log.  Normally the
               beginning, authentication, and termination of each connection is
               logged.

       -T      Extended test mode.  Check the  validity  of  the  configuration
               file,  output  the  effective  configuration  to stdout and then
               exit.  Optionally, Match rules may be applied by specifying  the
               connection  parameters  using  one  or more -C options.  This is
               similar to the -G flag, but it includes the  additional  testing
               performed by the -t flag.

       -t      Test  mode.   Only  check the validity of the configuration file
               and sanity of the keys.  This is useful for updating sshd  reli-
               ably as configuration options may change.

       -u len  This option is used to specify the size of the field in the utmp
               structure that holds the remote host name.  If the resolved host
               name  is  longer than len, the dotted decimal value will be used
               instead.  This allows hosts with very long host names that over-
               flow this field to still be uniquely identified.  Specifying -u0
               indicates that only dotted decimal addresses should be put  into
               the utmp file.  -u0 may also be used to prevent sshd from making
               DNS  requests  unless the authentication mechanism or configura-
               tion requires it.  Authentication mechanisms  that  may  require
               DNS     include     HostbasedAuthentication    and    using    a
               from="pattern-list" option in a key file.  Configuration options
               that require DNS include using a USER@HOST pattern in AllowUsers
               or DenyUsers.

       -V      Display the version number and exit.

AUTHENTICATION
       The OpenSSH SSH daemon supports SSH protocol 2 only.  Each  host  has  a
       host-specific  key,  used  to identify the host.  Whenever a client con-
       nects, the daemon responds with its public host key.   The  client  com-
       pares  the  host  key against its own database to verify that it has not
       changed.  Forward secrecy  is  provided  through  a  Diffie-Hellman  key
       agreement.   This  key  agreement  results in a shared session key.  The
       rest of the session is encrypted using a symmetric cipher.   The  client
       selects  the  encryption  algorithm  to  use  from  those offered by the
       server.  Additionally, session integrity is provided through  a  crypto-
       graphic message authentication code (MAC).

       Finally,  the server and the client enter an authentication dialog.  The
       client tries to authenticate  itself  using  host-based  authentication,
       public  key  authentication, challenge-response authentication, or pass-
       word authentication.

       Regardless of the authentication type, the account is checked to  ensure
       that  it  is  accessible.  An account is not accessible if it is locked,
       listed in DenyUsers or its group is listed in DenyGroups .  The  defini-
       tion  of a locked account is system dependent. Some platforms have their
       own account database (eg AIX) and some modify the passwd field (  ‘*LK*’
       on  Solaris and UnixWare, ‘*’ on HP-UX, containing ‘Nologin’ on Tru64, a
       leading ‘*LOCKED*’ on FreeBSD and a leading ‘!’ on  most  Linuxes).   If
       there  is  a  requirement to disable password authentication for the ac-
       count while allowing still public-key, then the passwd field  should  be
       set to something other than these values (eg ‘NP’ or ‘*NP*’ ).

       If  the client successfully authenticates itself, a dialog for preparing
       the session is entered.  At this time the client may request things like
       allocating a pseudo-tty, forwarding X11 connections, forwarding TCP con-
       nections, or forwarding the authentication agent connection over the se-
       cure channel.

       After this, the client either requests an interactive shell or execution
       of a non-interactive command, which sshd will  execute  via  the  user's
       shell  using its -c option.  The sides then enter session mode.  In this
       mode, either side may send data at any time, and such data is  forwarded
       to/from  the  shell or command on the server side, and the user terminal
       in the client side.

       When the user program terminates and all forwarded X11 and other connec-
       tions have been closed, the server sends  command  exit  status  to  the
       client, and both sides exit.

LOGIN PROCESS
       When a user successfully logs in, sshd does the following:

             1.   If  the login is on a tty, and no command has been specified,
                  prints last login time and /etc/motd (unless prevented in the
                  configuration file or by ~/.hushlogin; see the  “FILES”  sec-
                  tion).

             2.   If the login is on a tty, records login time.

             3.   Checks  /etc/nologin; if it exists, prints contents and quits
                  (unless root).

             4.   Changes to run with normal user privileges.

             5.   Sets up basic environment.

             6.   Reads the file ~/.ssh/environment, if it  exists,  and  users
                  are   allowed   to   change   their   environment.   See  the
                  PermitUserEnvironment option in sshd_config(5).

             7.   Changes to user's home directory.

             8.   If ~/.ssh/rc exists and the sshd_config(5)  PermitUserRC  op-
                  tion is set, runs it; else if /etc/ssh/sshrc exists, runs it;
                  otherwise  runs  xauth(1).   The “rc” files are given the X11
                  authentication protocol and cookie in  standard  input.   See
                  “SSHRC”, below.

             9.   Runs user's shell or command.  All commands are run under the
                  user's  login shell as specified in the system password data-
                  base.

SSHRC
       If the file ~/.ssh/rc exists, sh(1) runs it after reading  the  environ-
       ment files but before starting the user's shell or command.  It must not
       produce  any output on stdout; stderr must be used instead.  If X11 for-
       warding is in use, it will receive the "proto cookie" pair in its  stan-
       dard  input  (and  DISPLAY  in  its  environment).  The script must call
       xauth(1) because sshd will not run xauth automatically to add X11  cook-
       ies.

       The  primary  purpose of this file is to run any initialization routines
       which may be needed before the user's home directory becomes accessible;
       AFS is a particular example of such an environment.

       This file will probably contain some  initialization  code  followed  by
       something similar to:

          if read proto cookie && [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
                  if [ `echo $DISPLAY | cut -c1-10` = 'localhost:' ]; then
                          # X11UseLocalhost=yes
                          echo add unix:`echo $DISPLAY |
                              cut -c11-` $proto $cookie
                  else
                          # X11UseLocalhost=no
                          echo add $DISPLAY $proto $cookie
                  fi | xauth -q -
          fi

       If this file does not exist, /etc/ssh/sshrc is run, and if that does not
       exist either, xauth is used to add the cookie.

AUTHORIZED_KEYS FILE FORMAT
       AuthorizedKeysFile specifies the files containing public keys for public
       key  authentication;  if  this  option  is not specified, the default is
       ~/.ssh/authorized_keys and ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2.  Each  line  of  the
       file contains one key (empty lines and lines starting with a ‘#’ are ig-
       nored  as  comments).   Public keys consist of the following space-sepa-
       rated fields: options, keytype, base64-encoded key,  comment.   The  op-
       tions field is optional.  The supported key types are:

             sk-ecdsa-sha2-nistp256@openssh.com
             ecdsa-sha2-nistp256
             ecdsa-sha2-nistp384
             ecdsa-sha2-nistp521
             sk-ssh-ed25519@openssh.com
             ssh-ed25519
             ssh-rsa

       The  comment  field  is not used for anything (but may be convenient for
       the user to identify the key).

       Note that lines in this file can be several hundred bytes long  (because
       of  the  size  of the public key encoding) up to a limit of 8 kilobytes,
       which permits RSA keys up to 16 kilobits.  You don't want to  type  them
       in;  instead,  copy  the  id_ecdsa.pub, id_ecdsa_sk.pub, id_ed25519.pub,
       id_ed25519_sk.pub, or the id_rsa.pub file and edit it.

       sshd enforces a minimum RSA key modulus size of 1024 bits.

       The options (if present) consist of  comma-separated  option  specifica-
       tions.   No spaces are permitted, except within double quotes.  The fol-
       lowing option specifications are supported (note  that  option  keywords
       are case-insensitive):

       agent-forwarding
               Enable  authentication  agent  forwarding previously disabled by
               the restrict option.

       cert-authority
               Specifies that the listed key is a certification authority  (CA)
               that is trusted to validate signed certificates for user authen-
               tication.

               Certificates may encode access restrictions similar to these key
               options.   If  both certificate restrictions and key options are
               present, the most restrictive union of the two is applied.

       command="command"
               Specifies that the command is executed whenever this key is used
               for authentication.  The command supplied by the user  (if  any)
               is  ignored.  The command is run on a pty if the client requests
               a pty; otherwise it is run without a tty.   If  an  8-bit  clean
               channel  is required, one must not request a pty or should spec-
               ify no-pty.  A quote may be included in the command  by  quoting
               it with a backslash.

               This  option  might be useful to restrict certain public keys to
               perform just a specific operation.  An example might  be  a  key
               that  permits  remote  backups  but nothing else.  Note that the
               client may specify TCP and/or X11 forwarding unless they are ex-
               plicitly prohibited, e.g. using the restrict key option.

               The command originally supplied by the client  is  available  in
               the  SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND  environment variable.  Note that this
               option applies to shell, command or subsystem  execution.   Also
               note  that  this  command  may be superseded by a sshd_config(5)
               ForceCommand directive.

               If a command is specified and a forced-command is embedded in  a
               certificate  used  for authentication, then the certificate will
               be accepted only if the two commands are identical.

       environment="NAME=value"
               Specifies that the string is to be added to the environment when
               logging in using this key.  Environment variables set  this  way
               override  other default environment values.  Multiple options of
               this type are permitted.  Environment processing is disabled  by
               default and is controlled via the PermitUserEnvironment option.

       expiry-time="timespec"
               Specifies  a time after which the key will not be accepted.  The
               time may be specified  as  a  YYYYMMDD[Z]  date  or  a  YYYYMMD-
               DHHMM[SS][Z]  time.   Dates and times will be interpreted in the
               system time zone unless suffixed by a Z character, in which case
               they will be interpreted in the UTC time zone.

       from="pattern-list"
               Specifies that in addition to public key authentication,  either
               the  canonical name of the remote host or its IP address must be
               present in the comma-separated list of patterns.   See  PATTERNS
               in ssh_config(5) for more information on patterns.

               In  addition  to  the  wildcard  matching that may be applied to
               hostnames or addresses, a from stanza may match IP addresses us-
               ing CIDR address/masklen notation.

               The purpose of this option is to optionally  increase  security:
               public  key  authentication by itself does not trust the network
               or name servers or anything (but the key); however, if  somebody
               somehow  steals  the  key, the key permits an intruder to log in
               from anywhere in the world.  This additional option makes  using
               a  stolen  key more difficult (name servers and/or routers would
               have to be compromised in addition to just the key).

       no-agent-forwarding
               Forbids authentication agent forwarding when this  key  is  used
               for authentication.

       no-port-forwarding
               Forbids TCP forwarding when this key is used for authentication.
               Any  port  forward  requests by the client will return an error.
               This might be used, e.g. in connection with the command option.

       no-pty  Prevents tty allocation (a request to allocate a pty will fail).

       no-user-rc
               Disables execution of ~/.ssh/rc.

       no-X11-forwarding
               Forbids X11 forwarding when this key is used for authentication.
               Any X11 forward requests by the client will return an error.

       permitlisten="[host:]port"
               Limit remote port forwarding with the ssh(1) -R option such that
               it may only listen on the specified host  (optional)  and  port.
               IPv6  addresses  can  be  specified  by enclosing the address in
               square brackets.  Multiple permitlisten options may  be  applied
               separated  by  commas.   Hostnames  may include wildcards as de-
               scribed in the PATTERNS section in ssh_config(5).  A port speci-
               fication of * matches  any  port.   Note  that  the  setting  of
               GatewayPorts  may  further restrict listen addresses.  Note that
               ssh(1) will send a hostname of “localhost” if a listen host  was
               not  specified  when the forwarding was requested, and that this
               name is treated differently to the explicit localhost  addresses
               “127.0.0.1” and “::1”.

       permitopen="host:port"
               Limit  local port forwarding with the ssh(1) -L option such that
               it may only connect to the specified host and  port.   IPv6  ad-
               dresses  can  be  specified  by  enclosing the address in square
               brackets.  Multiple permitopen options may be applied  separated
               by  commas.   No pattern matching or name lookup is performed on
               the specified hostnames, they must be literal host names  and/or
               addresses.  A port specification of * matches any port.

       port-forwarding
               Enable  port  forwarding previously disabled by the restrict op-
               tion.

       principals="principals"
               On a cert-authority line, specifies allowed principals for  cer-
               tificate authentication as a comma-separated list.  At least one
               name  from  the  list  must  appear in the certificate's list of
               principals for the certificate to be accepted.  This  option  is
               ignored  for  keys  that  are  not marked as trusted certificate
               signers using the cert-authority option.

       pty     Permits tty allocation previously disabled by the  restrict  op-
               tion.

       no-touch-required
               Do  not  require  demonstration  of user presence for signatures
               made using this key.  This option only makes sense for the  FIDO
               authenticator algorithms ecdsa-sk and ed25519-sk.

       verify-required
               Require  that  signatures  made  using this key attest that they
               verified the user, e.g. via a PIN.  This option only makes sense
               for the FIDO authenticator algorithms ecdsa-sk and ed25519-sk.

       restrict
               Enable all restrictions, i.e. disable port, agent and  X11  for-
               warding,  as  well  as disabling PTY allocation and execution of
               ~/.ssh/rc.  If any future restriction capabilities are added  to
               authorized_keys files, they will be included in this set.

       tunnel="n"
               Force  a  tun(4) device on the server.  Without this option, the
               next available device will be used if the client requests a tun-
               nel.

       user-rc
               Enables  execution  of  ~/.ssh/rc  previously  disabled  by  the
               restrict option.

       X11-forwarding
               Permits  X11  forwarding previously disabled by the restrict op-
               tion.

       An example authorized_keys file:

          # Comments are allowed at start of line. Blank lines are allowed.
          # Plain key, no restrictions
          ssh-rsa ...
          # Forced command, disable PTY and all forwarding
          restrict,command="dump /home" ssh-rsa ...
          # Restriction of ssh -L forwarding destinations
          permitopen="192.0.2.1:80",permitopen="192.0.2.2:25" ssh-rsa ...
          # Restriction of ssh -R forwarding listeners
          permitlisten="localhost:8080",permitlisten="[::1]:22000" ssh-rsa ...
          # Configuration for tunnel forwarding
          tunnel="0",command="sh /etc/netstart tun0" ssh-rsa ...
          # Override of restriction to allow PTY allocation
          restrict,pty,command="nethack" ssh-rsa ...
          # Allow FIDO key without requiring touch
          no-touch-required sk-ecdsa-sha2-nistp256@openssh.com ...
          # Require user-verification (e.g. PIN or biometric) for FIDO key
          verify-required sk-ecdsa-sha2-nistp256@openssh.com ...
          # Trust CA key, allow touch-less FIDO if requested in certificate
          cert-authority,no-touch-required,principals="user_a" ssh-rsa ...

SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS FILE FORMAT
       The /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts and ~/.ssh/known_hosts files  contain  host
       public  keys for all known hosts.  The global file should be prepared by
       the administrator (optional), and the per-user file is maintained  auto-
       matically:  whenever  the  user  connects to an unknown host, its key is
       added to the per-user file.

       Each line in these files contains  the  following  fields:  marker  (op-
       tional),  hostnames,  keytype,  base64-encoded key, comment.  The fields
       are separated by spaces.

       The marker is optional, but if it is present then  it  must  be  one  of
       “@cert-authority”,  to  indicate  that the line contains a certification
       authority (CA) key, or “@revoked”, to indicate that the key contained on
       the line is revoked and must not ever  be  accepted.   Only  one  marker
       should be used on a key line.

       Hostnames  is  a  comma-separated  list  of patterns (‘*’ and ‘?’ act as
       wildcards); each pattern in turn is matched against the host name.  When
       sshd   is   authenticating   a    client,    such    as    when    using
       HostbasedAuthentication,  this  will  be the canonical client host name.
       When ssh(1) is authenticating a server, this will be the host name given
       by the user, the value of the ssh(1) HostkeyAlias if it  was  specified,
       or  the canonical server hostname if the ssh(1) CanonicalizeHostname op-
       tion was used.

       A pattern may also be preceded by ‘!’ to indicate negation: if the  host
       name  matches  a negated pattern, it is not accepted (by that line) even
       if it matched another pattern on the line.  A hostname  or  address  may
       optionally  be enclosed within ‘[’ and ‘]’ brackets then followed by ‘:’
       and a non-standard port number.

       Alternately, hostnames may be stored in a hashed form which  hides  host
       names  and  addresses  should  the file's contents be disclosed.  Hashed
       hostnames start with a ‘|’ character.  Only one hashed hostname may  ap-
       pear  on a single line and none of the above negation or wildcard opera-
       tors may be applied.

       The keytype and base64-encoded key are taken directly from the host key;
       they can be obtained, for example,  from  /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub.
       The  optional comment field continues to the end of the line, and is not
       used.

       Lines starting with ‘#’ and empty lines are ignored as comments.

       When performing host authentication, authentication is accepted  if  any
       matching line has the proper key; either one that matches exactly or, if
       the  server  has  presented a certificate for authentication, the key of
       the certification authority that signed the certificate.  For a  key  to
       be   trusted   as   a   certification   authority,   it   must  use  the
       “@cert-authority” marker described above.

       The known hosts file also provides a facility to mark keys  as  revoked,
       for  example  when  it is known that the associated private key has been
       stolen.  Revoked keys are specified by including the  “@revoked”  marker
       at the beginning of the key line, and are never accepted for authentica-
       tion or as certification authorities, but instead will produce a warning
       from ssh(1) when they are encountered.

       It is permissible (but not recommended) to have several lines or differ-
       ent  host  keys  for  the  same names.  This will inevitably happen when
       short forms of host names from different domains are put  in  the  file.
       It is possible that the files contain conflicting information; authenti-
       cation is accepted if valid information can be found from either file.

       Note  that the lines in these files are typically hundreds of characters
       long, and you definitely don't want to type in the host  keys  by  hand.
       Rather,  generate them by a script, ssh-keyscan(1) or by taking, for ex-
       ample, /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub and adding the host  names  at  the
       front.   ssh-keygen(1)  also  offers  some  basic  automated editing for
       ~/.ssh/known_hosts including removing hosts matching  a  host  name  and
       converting all host names to their hashed representations.

       An example ssh_known_hosts file:

          # Comments allowed at start of line
          cvs.example.net,192.0.2.10 ssh-rsa AAAA1234.....=
          # A hashed hostname
          |1|JfKTdBh7rNbXkVAQCRp4OQoPfmI=|USECr3SWf1JUPsms5AqfD5QfxkM= ssh-rsa
          AAAA1234.....=
          # A revoked key
          @revoked * ssh-rsa AAAAB5W...
          # A CA key, accepted for any host in *.mydomain.com or *.mydomain.org
          @cert-authority *.mydomain.org,*.mydomain.com ssh-rsa AAAAB5W...

FILES
       ~/.hushlogin
               This  file  is used to suppress printing the last login time and
               /etc/motd, if PrintLastLog and PrintMotd, respectively, are  en-
               abled.  It does not suppress printing of the banner specified by
               Banner.

       ~/.rhosts
               This  file is used for host-based authentication (see ssh(1) for
               more information).  On some machines this file may  need  to  be
               world-readable  if the user's home directory is on an NFS parti-
               tion, because sshd reads it as root.   Additionally,  this  file
               must  be  owned by the user, and must not have write permissions
               for anyone else.  The recommended permission for  most  machines
               is read/write for the user, and not accessible by others.

       ~/.shosts
               This file is used in exactly the same way as .rhosts, but allows
               host-based   authentication   without   permitting   login  with
               rlogin/rsh.

       ~/.ssh/
               This directory is the default  location  for  all  user-specific
               configuration  and authentication information.  There is no gen-
               eral requirement to keep the entire contents of  this  directory
               secret,  but  the recommended permissions are read/write/execute
               for the user, and not accessible by others.

       ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
               Lists the public keys (ECDSA, Ed25519, RSA) that can be used for
               logging in as this user.  The format of this file  is  described
               above.  The content of the file is not highly sensitive, but the
               recommended permissions are read/write for the user, and not ac-
               cessible by others.

               If this file, the ~/.ssh directory, or the user's home directory
               are  writable by other users, then the file could be modified or
               replaced by unauthorized users.  In this case, sshd will not al-
               low it to be used unless the StrictModes option has been set  to
               “no”.

       ~/.ssh/environment
               This  file is read into the environment at login (if it exists).
               It can only contain empty lines, comment lines (that start  with
               ‘#’),  and  assignment  lines  of the form name=value.  The file
               should be writable only by the user; it need not be readable  by
               anyone  else.  Environment processing is disabled by default and
               is controlled via the PermitUserEnvironment option.

       ~/.ssh/known_hosts
               Contains a list of host keys for all hosts the user  has  logged
               into  that  are not already in the systemwide list of known host
               keys.  The format of this file is described  above.   This  file
               should  be writable only by root/the owner and can, but need not
               be, world-readable.

       ~/.ssh/rc
               Contains initialization routines to be  run  before  the  user's
               home directory becomes accessible.  This file should be writable
               only by the user, and need not be readable by anyone else.

       /etc/hosts.allow
       /etc/hosts.deny
               Access  controls that should be enforced by tcp-wrappers are de-
               fined here.  Further details are described in hosts_access(5).

       /etc/hosts.equiv
               This file is for host-based  authentication  (see  ssh(1)).   It
               should only be writable by root.

       /etc/ssh/moduli
               Contains  Diffie-Hellman  groups  used  for  the "Diffie-Hellman
               Group Exchange" key exchange method.  The  file  format  is  de-
               scribed  in  moduli(5).   If  no usable groups are found in this
               file then fixed internal groups will be used.

       /etc/motd
               See motd(5).

       /etc/nologin
               If this file exists, sshd refuses to let anyone except root  log
               in.   The contents of the file are displayed to anyone trying to
               log in, and non-root connections are refused.  The  file  should
               be world-readable.

       /etc/ssh/shosts.equiv
               This  file  is  used in exactly the same way as hosts.equiv, but
               allows host-based authentication without permitting  login  with
               rlogin/rsh.

       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
               These  files  contain the private parts of the host keys.  These
               files should only be owned by root, readable only by  root,  and
               not  accessible  to  others.   Note  that sshd does not start if
               these files are group/world-accessible.

       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
               These files contain the public parts of the  host  keys.   These
               files should be world-readable but writable only by root.  Their
               contents should match the respective private parts.  These files
               are not really used for anything; they are provided for the con-
               venience  of  the  user so their contents can be copied to known
               hosts files.  These files are created using ssh-keygen(1).

       /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
               Systemwide list of known host keys.  This file  should  be  pre-
               pared  by  the  system  administrator to contain the public host
               keys of all machines in the organization.  The  format  of  this
               file  is  described above.  This file should be writable only by
               root/the owner and should be world-readable.

       /etc/ssh/sshd_config
               Contains configuration data for sshd.  The file format and  con-
               figuration options are described in sshd_config(5).

       /etc/ssh/sshrc
               Similar to ~/.ssh/rc, it can be used to specify machine-specific
               login-time   initializations  globally.   This  file  should  be
               writable only by root, and should be world-readable.

       /run/sshd
               chroot(2) directory used by sshd during privilege separation  in
               the  pre-authentication phase.  The directory should not contain
               any files and must be owned by root  and  not  group  or  world-
               writable.

       /run/sshd.pid
               Contains  the  process  ID of the sshd listening for connections
               (if there are several daemons running concurrently for different
               ports, this contains the process ID of the  one  started  last).
               The content of this file is not sensitive; it can be world-read-
               able.

SEE ALSO
       scp(1),   sftp(1),   ssh(1),  ssh-add(1),  ssh-agent(1),  ssh-keygen(1),
       ssh-keyscan(1), chroot(2), hosts_access(5),  moduli(5),  sshd_config(5),
       inetd(8), sftp-server(8)

AUTHORS
       OpenSSH  is  a derivative of the original and free ssh 1.2.12 release by
       Tatu Ylonen.  Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck,  Markus  Friedl,  Niels  Provos,
       Theo  de  Raadt  and Dug Song removed many bugs, re-added newer features
       and created OpenSSH.  Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH pro-
       tocol versions 1.5 and 2.0.  Niels Provos and Markus Friedl  contributed
       support for privilege separation.

Debian                         September 15, 2024                       SSHD(8)

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