D Setting Up SSH Connectivity

Before You Begin

Before starting with the SSHD setup, ensure you are not using OpenSSH and MKSNT when using the Agent Deploy application. To do so, perform the following checks:

1. Ensure OpenSSH\bin and mksnt are not in your PATH environment variable. If they are, remove them by doing the following:

   1. Right-click on My Computer and go to Properties.

   2. In the System Properties window that appears, click Advanced.

   3. In this tab, click Environment Variables.

   4. Here, search for the Path system variable, select it, and if the OpenSSH\bin and mksnt are present in the PATH, click Edit.

   5. In the Edit System Variable dialog box that appears, delete these two values from the PATH, and click OK.

2. Stop the SSH Daemon if it is running from OpenSSH,MKS or any other vendor. If the SSH Daemon is running, stop it by doing the following:

   1. Right-click on My Computer, and select Manage.

   2. In the Computer Management window, in the left pane, expand Services and Applications, and select Services.

   3. In the right-pane, right click the SSH Daemon/MKS Secure Shell service and click Stop.

Installing Cygwin

To install Cygwin and start the SSH daemon on Microsoft Windows hosts, follow these steps:

1. Download the setup-legacy.exe file corresponding to Cygwin 1.5 from the following Website, and install the Cygwin software in the C:\cygwin directory:

   http://cygwin.com/win-9x.html

   If you go directly to http://cygwin.com and download the setup.exe file, it will install Cygwin 1.7 which is not supported on this version.

   Note:

   If you install Cygwin in a different directory than what has been previously mentioned, ensure you update the $OMS_INSTANCE_HOME/sysman/prov/resources/ssPaths_msplats.properties file with the proper Cygwin binary values after installing Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control.

   Caution:

   If you are installing Cygwin at a directory that is other than C:\cygwin on a remote machine, you must also ensure that Cygwin is installed on the OMS machine at the exact same location.

   The Cygwin installation directory should not contain any spaces.

   1. Invoke Cygwin setup, and click Next to proceed.

      
      

   2. On the Choose Installation Type screen, select Install from Internet, and click Next.

      
      

   3. On the Choose Installation Directory screen, enter C:\cygwin as the Root Directory, and click Next.

      
      

   4. On the Select Local Package Directory screen, select a directory on your local machine where you want the Setup to store the installation files it downloads, and click Next.

      
      

   5. On the Select Connection Type screen, select appropriate settings to connect to the internet, and click Next.

      
      

   6. On the Choose Download Site(s) screen, select any site from the available list, and click Next.

      
      

   7. On the select packages screen, ensure that you select the following packages, and click Next:

      From the Archive category, select unzip and zip as follows:

      
      

      From the Net category, select openssh as follows:

      
      

      After selecting the packages, a Resolving Dependencies screen is displayed. Click Next to proceed.

   8. On the Installation Status and Create Icons screen, do not make any changes. Click Finish to complete the installation process.

      
      

2. After you install Cygwin, navigate to the C:\cygwin directory, open the Cygwin.bat file in edit mode, and add the following line before invoking the bash shell.

   set CYGWIN=binmode tty ntsec

3. To verify if Cygwin (cygrunsrv) is installed properly, run C:\cygwin\Cygwin.bat, and execute the following command:

   cygrunsrv -h
   

   If Cygwin is installed properly, then all the Cygwin help options are displayed on the screen. However, if this returns an error message, then it means you are not on the right track, and might have to reinstall Cygwin.

   Note:

   If you are prompted to provide a Cygwin value, enter binmode tty ntsec. If this returns an error message stating "service does not exist", you are on the right track, and can proceed to the next step.

4. To install SSHD service, run C:\cygwin\Cygwin.bat, and execute the following command:

   ssh-host-config
   

   Note:

   Enter "no" when prompted to create sshd user account (message reads "sshd user account needs to be created").

   Enter "yes" at all other prompts.

   When prompted to answer the question "Which value should the environment variable CYGWIN have when sshd starts?", Oracle recommends that you set the value to at least "ntsec" as shown in the following example. This will enable you to change the user context without having to specify the password.

   As an answer to the previously mentioned question, specify a value that is similar to the following and press Enter:

   CYGWIN="binmode tty ntsec"
   

5. Backup the /etc/passwd file and then use a vim or vi editor to open it in edit mode. Remove only those entries of the user that you will use to connect to the destination host on which you want to install the Management Agent. Ask the user to make a backup of the /etc/passwd file before editing.

   • If the user that you are employing to connect to the destination host on which you want to install the Management Agent is a local user, run C:\cygwin\Cygwin.bat and execute the following:

     /bin/mkpasswd -l –u <USER> >> /etc/passwd
     

   • If the user you are employing to connect to the destination host on which you want to install the Management Agent running is a domain user, run C:\cygwin\Cygwin.bat and execute the following:

     /bin/mkpasswd -d -u <USER> >> /etc/passwd
     /bin/mkgroup -d >> /etc/group
     
     
     mkdir -p /home/<USER>  (for example, mkdir -p /home/pjohn)
     chown <USER> /home/<USER> (for example, chown pjohn /home/pjohn)
     

6. (domain user only) If the user you are employing to connect to the destination host on which you want to install the Management Agent is a domain user, do the following to start the SSH daemon:

   1. Right-click on My Computer, and select Manage.

   2. In the Computer Management dialog box that appears, go to Services and Applications, and select CYGWIN sshd.

   3. Right-click CYGWIN sshd and select Properties.

   4. In the Properties dialog box, go to the Log On tab.

   5. Here, specify the domain/username and password. Click Apply.

   6. Run C:\cygwin\Cygwin.bat, and execute the following:

      chown <USERNAME> /var/log/sshd.log
      chown -R <USERNAME> /var/empty
      chown <USERNAME> /etc/ssh*
      chmod 755 /var/empty
      chmod 644 /var/log/sshd.log
      

      Note:

      If /var/log/sshd.log does not exist, you do not have to execute the following commands:

      chown <USERNAME> /var/log/sshd.log
      chmod 644 /var/log/sshd.log
      

7. Perform one of the following steps to start the SSH daemon:

   Run C:/cygwin/Cygwin.bat and execute the following command:

   /usr/sbin/sshd

   OR

   Run C:/cygwin/Cygwin.bat and execute the following command:

   cygrunsrv -S sshd

   Note:

   Use cygrunsrv -E sshd to stop the SSH daemon.

8. You can now test your cygwin setup.

   To do this, go to a different machine (that has the ssh client running), and execute the following command:

   ssh -l <USERNAME> <localhost> 'date'
   
   OR
   
   ssh -l <USERNAME> <this node> 'date'
   

   For example,

   ssh -l pjohn egal07.db.funds.com 'date'
   

   This command will prompt you to specify the password. When you specify the correct password, the command should return the accurate date.

Set the TZ variable and Restart the SSH Daemon

If the shell being used is BASH, add the following line to the .bashrc file in the home directory of the user (being used) for ssh access:

export TZ=<your machine's timezone>

If you are using a CSH shell, then add the following line to the .cshrc file in that directory:

setenv TZ <your machine's timezone>

1. Depending on the shell that is present on the host, set the TZ variable by executing the following command:

   For a CSH Shell, specify:
   setenv TZ PST8PDT
   

2. Restart the SSH daemon by executing:

   sudo /etc/init.d/sshd restart
   

3. Now, execute the following command from the OMS home to verify if the SSH server can access the TZ variable.

   ssh -l <user_name> -n <node_name> 'echo $TZ'
   

Set the TZ Variable in the "Shell rc" File

The timezone variable must be set in the rc file of the shell that the host is using.

For example, if the host is using a BASH shell, go to the user's home directory ($HOME) and add the following to the ~/.bashrc file to set the TZ variable:

TZ=PST8PDT; export TZ

If the host is using a CSH shell, go to $HOME and add the following to the ~/.cshrc file:

setenv TZ PST8PDT

Now, execute the following command from the OMS home to verify if the SSH server can access the TZ variable.

ssh -l <user_name> -n <node_name> 'echo $TZ'