Networks Analyzed @ Netralized

In my previous article: Using SSH Instead of Telnet I gave you an overview why you must use SSH instead of telnet. In this article I will show you how to configure a router as an SSH server. Keep in mind that you will need an SSH client to connect to the server. Popular SSH clients are Teraterm, Putty and OpenSSH.

Before configuring SSH, verify that you have configure your router as AAA server with local authentication and you have set all the appropriate usernames and passwords

Here is the configuration:

Configure the hostname on the device

Router(config)#hostname yourhostname

• Configure the domain name

Router(config)#ip domain-name yourdomain.com

• Generate RSA keys

Router(config)# crypto key generate rsa

• Configure the SSH sessions timeouts

Router(config)#ip ssh timeout seconds

• Configure the SSH retries

Router(config)#ip ssh authentication-retries number of retries

• Disable the telnet in the inbound direction on your vty lines

Router(config)#line vty 0 4

Router(config-line)#no transport input telnet

• Enable SSH on the vty

Router(config-line)#transport input ssh

Now you are ready to access your devise securely with your SSH client.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 7:22 pm and is filed under Cisco. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.