- Configuration Details
- Mechanics of Configuration Files
- Recommendations
Mechanics of Configuration Files
When OpenSSH is built, sshd_config and ssh_config are placed at the location specified by sysconfdir. Usuallocations are /etc,/usr/local/etc,/etc/ssh or /etc/openssh. The Solaris Secure Shell software stores the two files at /etc/ssh. These files should be owned by user root and group sys. The file permission mode should be either 644 or 444.
Configuration files contain two types of entries: comments and keyword-value pairs. Comments are blank lines and lines beginning with the hash mark (#). Keyword-value pairs consist of an identifier (keyword), a space, and the value associated with the identifier. Keywords are case insensitive, where as values are case sensitive.
Traditionally, the first letter of each word in a keyword is capitalized for readability. Some values are lists that are either comma delimited or space delimited, depending on the keyword. Consider keeping configuration files under source control to track revisions. The source control tags can be hidden by the comment character (the hash mark).
# Example config file - two comments and one # keyword-value pair Port 22