Help configuring SSH

[stevejobbers]

I was planning on opening up SSH on my machine, but before I do so I wanted to know what precautions I need to take.

I was thinking of changing the default SSH port of 22 to something else - is there a way to do this in OS X? If so, how?

Also, is there a way to limit connection attempts? You know, something like only allowing 3 attempts per minute?

Thanks!

 

[ViViDboarder]

I was planning on opening up SSH on my machine, but before I do so I wanted to know what precautions I need to take.

I was thinking of changing the default SSH port of 22 to something else - is there a way to do this in OS X? If so, how?

Also, is there a way to limit connection attempts? You know, something like only allowing 3 attempts per minute?

Thanks!

You can do all that but it would require command line settings.

It's really easy to enable SSH on a mac though. You just do it in Settings>Sharing>Enable Remote Login

Changing the default port shouldn't be too hard to do but I have never bothered with anything like that. Also, if you have a Dynamic IP it's hard to SSH in without using a service like Dyndns.org. Which I use to make it easy to remotely access my computers back home.

EDIT
Here's a short guide on configuring SSH. https://help.ubuntu.com/6.06/ubuntu/serverguide/C/openssh-server.html Just follow the Config portion of it and then skip the restart part and just reboot your computer.

 

[stevejobbers]

Thanks! I'll give it a shot!

Also, I've used DynDns before to handle my ISP changing my IP address.

 

[belvdr]

On OS X, edit /etc/sshd_config. Look for '#Port 22' (it is line 13 on 10.6.2). Remove the '#' sign and change 22 to whatever you want. Restart the SSH daemon.