Sshd and key based authentication

[Larry Hall (Cygwin)]

On 11/18/2013 2:58 AM, Andrea Venturoli wrote:
> Hello.
>
> I'm trying to set up sshd on a Windows 2003 domain controller.
> Everything works with password authentication; however I need this for a
> script, so, in order to get non-interactive login, I must use keys.
> Tried as hard as I could, but I could not achieve this: I'm always asked for
> a password.

<snip>

> Is this supposed to work? Several posts say so, but no one mentions a domain
> controller... Does it bring in anything special?

If you want/have to use domain user logins, then you need to create a
domain equivalent of 'cyg_server'.  You can use the scripts that
'ssh-host-config' uses as a guide to do this but the actual process
must be done by hand and you need access and permission on your domain
controller to set this up.

'ssh-host-config' will not handle this case for you.

> Are the above users correct? Any problem with it?

For local users, no, no problem.

> What are correct ownership and permissions of /home, /home/myuser,
> /home/myuser/.ssh and /home/myuser/.ssh/authorized_keys?

'ssh-host-config' will set these up for you.  I suggest you use it.

> According to some how-tos, ssh-host-confing should have prompted with
> "CYGWIN=" and I should have replied "tty ntsec", but this did not happen.
> Other how-tos suggest putting this variable in the environment.
> Is this information current or obsolete? I tried and it didn't seem to
> matter...

<http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/ntsec.html#ntsec-setuid-overview>

Yes, this information is obsolete.  This is the main reason we
recommend not using various How-To guides that you'll find littered
around the Internet.

> Any other hint?

If a domain service account isn't an option, look at the other
options listed in the User's Guide:

<http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/ntsec.html#ntsec-setuid-overview>

Method 2 or 3 might be sufficient for your need.


-- 
Larry

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
 > Q: Are you sure?
 >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
 >>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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