OpenSSH Saved My @$$

[scirica]

For those of you considering whether or not to keep OpenSSH active at all times consider this:

Last night before heading to bed I decided to activate one of my html LockInfo themes via Winterboard. (Normally I just use native LockInfo). After checking the theme, and exiting Winterboard, the iPhone did it's requisite res-pring. Then the story gets ugly...

Long story short, the re-spring got so far as to build the status bar, show the battery status, then went into another re-spring. After a few of these, the phone would do a re-boot. No matter what I did I couldn't break this cycle.

Fortunately, the status bar showed that I did have wifi and carrier connection, so I thought if I could just SSH into my phone while it was "trying" to initialize the LockInfo theme I could perhaps delete that theme folder and on the next respring/reboot it would not hang on the theme.

So I did just that, fired up WinSCP and via OpenSSH was able to delete the offending theme. On the next reboot, the phone started up successfully and all is well!

If I did NOT have OpenSSH active, there would have been no way to get into the phone during this boot cycle and I would have been hosed. I was actually away from home last night so I painfully watched/listened to my 3G(s) going through reboot cycles all night until I got home this morning.

Lesson re-enforced: Always keep OpenSSH active, just in case. Just be sure to change your root and mobile passwords and you'll be fine from a security standpoint.

Cheers.

 

[Applejuiced]

Well said.
Its always good to have OpenSSH installed just in cases like that.

 

[gixxerfool]

Would diskaid work as well. I don't have wifi available most times.

 

[spamdumpster]

If you have OpenSSH installed it will automatically start when the device is rebooted -- for exactly this type of situation. So, there's no reason to keep it running all of the time (especially if you haven't changed the root password) -- if you need it, just reboot, and it will load.

DiskAid or other similar browsers usually work just as well.

 

[scirica]

If you have OpenSSH installed it will automatically start when the device is rebooted -- for exactly this type of situation. So, there's no reason to keep it running all of the time (especially if you haven't changed the root password) -- if you need it, just reboot, and it will load.

DiskAid or other similar browsers usually work just as well.

I didn't realize SSH restarted at reboot. Thanks for the info, that makes sense!

 

[-aggie-]

I didn't realize SSH restarted at reboot. Thanks for the info, that makes sense!

My question is how you have wifi that much. Mine only comes on when I surf. I'm always having problems while sshing when wifi goes out and then comes back on.

 

[ViViDboarder]

If you have OpenSSH installed it will automatically start when the device is rebooted -- for exactly this type of situation. So, there's no reason to keep it running all of the time (especially if you haven't changed the root password) -- if you need it, just reboot, and it will load.

DiskAid or other similar browsers usually work just as well.

I'm not so sure that's true... If you use the SBSettings toggle at least I think it disables the sshd from running in the init.d startups...

I keep mine on all the time anyway. I used it for this same reason. I also have done the same with DiskAid but I prefer SSH. DiskAid is nice though because I do turn off Wifi from time to time.

I have a non-default password so I'm not worried about security with SSH. I have it running on all of my home computers and I trust it there, why not with my phone?

I you change your default passwords there's no reason why you shouldn't be running SSH all the time.

 

[scirica]

Well for one won't chance it and I'm keeping SSH toggled ON. Passwords are secured, so no worries about security!

 

[spamdumpster]

I'm not so sure that's true... If you use the SBSettings toggle at least I think it disables the sshd from running in the init.d startups...

I keep mine on all the time anyway. I used it for this same reason. I also have done the same with DiskAid but I prefer SSH. DiskAid is nice though because I do turn off Wifi from time to time.

I have a non-default password so I'm not worried about security with SSH. I have it running on all of my home computers and I trust it there, why not with my phone?

I you change your default passwords there's no reason why you shouldn't be running SSH all the time.

I just toggled SSH to off using SBSetings, rebooted, and it was running again. I do agree with you that, assuming you change the default password, there's no reason not to have it running all the time.