Unable to SSH into server - Network Error: Connection refused

After I used putty and a chown command for a directory above the root of a web account - something that shouldn't affect anything on the server - I find myself unable to SSH into the server at all, whether using putty or even using cpanel itself. I can't even use the java based SSH to login, constantly getting a "connection refused" error. I checked the firewall report which emails me and there is no indication it has prevented my IP.

One note - the folder I chowned happens to be named var and it's the only thing I can think of that may have caused the problem, an unintended adverse effect.

WinSCP also fails to connect for the same reason but Filezilla for FTP does work. Same settings, same port. I cannot explain this.

I tried to restart the SSH server but that doesn't do anything.

Network Error: Connection refused

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CPANEL's SSH access: Could not establish a connection to the host: Connection refused.

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CPANEL's Shell Login: Sorry could not connect. Java.net connectexception Connection Refused