SSH login failure - Can SSH password be RESETTED?

[guilliam]

background:

1. with a root account and its password i can login fine in the WHM
2. this is a dedicated server in which my client(who is a whm noobie ) played around with it before i handled it as admin.

problem:

1. i can login fine to the WHM, however when i connect to SSH using the ROOT account the password is not accepted.

question:

1. generally, what the login info used to login in the WHM is usually the same to login to SSH, correct?

2. is there anyway i can RESET the password of the SSH since it doesnt accept my password?


other thoughts:

using the following:

WHM 10.8.0 cPanel 10.8.1-R113
CentOS 4.2 i686 - WHM X v3.1.0

- g

[mohit]

hi,
try restarting the SSH service from WHM, sometimes when you kill a SSH process from CPU usage this can happen, that happened in my case but my admin was able to fix thing with restarting.

I am quite sure root pass works for both whm and SSH.

see ya,
mohit

[webignition]

1. generally, what the login info used to login in the WHM is usually the same to login to SSH, correct?

As far as I know, this is correct. It wouldn't really make sense to have a separate password for WHM and SSH access.

2. is there anyway i can RESET the password of the SSH since it doesnt accept my password?[/B]

The root password is the root password and that's about it. You wouldn't be able to reset the password for SSH only - the password will be being read from the same file.

Since your password is not recognised when trying to login via SSH, it is probably going to be due to one of the following:

1. The password is being entered incorrectly. Sorry to mention this, but it's the most common cause, although probably not the case here.

2. Your SSH client is doing something odd. Does it work fine for connections to other hosts? What SSH client are you using?

3. Your sshd is configured in an odd manner. Your password is most likely stored, in an encrypted form, in /etc/shadow. If your sshd is expecting the password to be in a different format, you're going to encounter some issues.

Since you can't establish an SSH connection you're going to find it tricky to access your sshd config file, which makes things a little more tricky.

Are you able login via SSH as a cPanel user (one that has been granted shell access)?

[guilliam]

hi,
try restarting the SSH service from WHM, sometimes when you kill a SSH process from CPU usage this can happen, that happened in my case but my admin was able to fix thing with restarting.

I am quite sure root pass works for both whm and SSH.

see ya,
mohit

hi mohit. thanks for the info.. however,.. already tried this and even restarting the whole BOX(as mentioned its on a dedicated box). however,.. still no cigar.

- g

[guilliam]

1. yes, so it is confirmed.. that WHM root login is the same with SSH. in this case it is not.

1. The password is being entered incorrectly. Sorry to mention this, but it's the most common cause, although probably not the case here.

- nope. not the case here.

2. Your SSH client is doing something odd. Does it work fine for connections to other hosts? What SSH client are you using?

- yes it works pretty fine with other dedicated boxes or even on other vps that i manage. i usually use "putty" but on this case i also tried "winscp" but of no luck.

3. Your sshd is configured in an odd manner. Your password is most likely stored, in an encrypted form, in /etc/shadow. If your sshd is expecting the password to be in a different format, you're going to encounter some issues.

Since you can't establish an SSH connection you're going to find it tricky to access your sshd config file, which makes things a little more tricky.

- if encryption is the prob.. that really is a BIG prob. ehhehe. since i cant even connect to the ssh to do the necessary commands

Are you able login via SSH as a cPanel user (one that has been granted shell access)?

yes.. the retailer account can login pretty well and i can do much of the SSH from the retailer level.

- g

[Ron Phillips]

This might be a stupid question to your question, but here it is anyway. Does your server allow root access via SSH?

As a security measure a server can be set to not allow remote access directly as root, and requires you to log in as a wheel user and then SU to root.

You can assign users in your WHM to the wheel group.

[guilliam]

This might be a stupid question to your question, but here it is anyway. Does your server allow root access via SSH?

As a security measure a server can be set to not allow remote access directly as root, and requires you to log in as a wheel user and then SU to root.

You can assign users in your WHM to the wheel group.

geez! thats absolutely NOT a stupid question.. it really makes sense. i overlooked on that possibility.

will try the suggestion if indeed the box is set up to disallow access directly as root.
thank you so much for pointing that out.

- g