does sshd work?

[Dave_Bechtel]

--On the server, edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and look around for MaxStartups - if it exists, change the value to 30 or so:

MaxStartups
             Specifies the maximum number of concurrent unauthenticated con-
             nections to the sshd daemon.  Additional connections will be
             dropped until authentication succeeds or the LoginGraceTime
             expires for a connection.  The default is 10.

             Alternatively, random early drop can be enabled by specifying the
             three colon separated values ``start:rate:full'' (e.g.,
             "10:30:60").  sshd will refuse connection attempts with a proba-
             bility of ``rate/100'' (30%) if there are currently ``start''
             (10) unauthenticated connections.  The probability increases lin-
             early and all connection attempts are refused if the number of
             unauthenticated connections reaches ``full'' (60).

--I also recommend setting:
PermitRootLogin no

--This will not allow root to login directly, a regular user has to login and ' su ' to gain root access.

--Dunno for sure if that will fix the problem, but it's a start. Also make sure everyone is doing the ' /etc/init.d/ssh start ' and can ping the server before trying to connect. In addition, for the ones that are having trouble connecting, you can add a ' -v ' to the ssh command args and debug the connection attempt.

--You will also have to do /etc/init.d/ssh restart (bounce ssh) after saving the file.

--Some suggestions:
o Always use protocol 2 with ssh clients: ' -2 ' with ssh
o Always use ' -c blowfish ' for fastest connections

--Here's my /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf:

# 2003.0921
# For win98?
option domain-name "waldoseries.org";
#option domain-name-servers ns1.example.org, ns2.example.org;

default-lease-time 5000;
max-lease-time 18000;

authoritative;

subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.0.0.0 {
    range 10.0.0.50 10.0.0.55;
}

--Also ' ln /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf /etc/dhcpd.conf -sfn ' for easy editing. You will probably also have to edit /etc/default/dhcp3-server and add "eth0" to interfaces (INTERFACES="eth0").

--Note that the leases file is located at /var/lib/dhcpd3/dhcpd.leases. Lease times are in seconds. Don't forget to issue ' /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server start ' on the server.

--If your campus network already has a DHCP server, talk to your admin before doing this! Putting a dhcp server up should only be done on a network that absolutely does not go outside your classroom. (This dhcp conf is on my laptop, for backing up client machines. I haven't used it on any more than 2-3 machines at once.) You may actually be able to get around any restrictions by physically unplugging any ethernet cable that goes outside what you want your local LAN to be.

--This setup should be considered experimental until proven workable - I don't know what effect dynamic IP addresses will have on the sshd server, but since you're booting from CD anyway it shouldn't be a problem (I hope.) Lemme know how it goes.

--Oh, and when you get everything up and running the way you want it, don't forget to backup the server.

OK, you use pump for this. Well, I'd be interested in your dhcp.conf file. This would run on the server, right?

I don't know if this ssh/fish stuff is all its cracked-up to be. I don't know why, but only 10 of my 24 clients can get this working! Maybe I'll just setup ftp services.

TIA,