Enabling secure communication

The adapter uses the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol to communicate with the managed resource. This protocol must be installed and running before the adapter connects to the managed resource.

About this task

The adapter supports SSH protocol version 2.0. The SSH configuration file lists the SSH protocol version that is supported by your system.
Note: OpenSSH is the only supported SSH package on HP-UX and Solaris. OpenSSH and Tectia SSH packages are supported on AIX® and Linux® systems.
The following list provides information to help you ensure that the UNIX based managed resources in your network can operate with the UNIX and Linux Adapter.
HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris systems
SSH is installed and enabled by default on these operating systems. However, check to ensure that the SSH daemon is running before you attempt to connect a managed resource to the IBM® Security Identity server. If SSH is not enabled, the connection fails.
AIX systems
SSH is not installed on AIX operating systems. If a supported version of SSH is not installed on your system, you might download and install SSH from an open source website. You must install OpenSSL if you are going to use OpenSSH because OpenSSH uses functions that are provided by OpenSSL. Install the OpenSSL first and then install OpenSSH. The AIX operating system requires the OpenSSH product version 4.7 or later. After SSH is installed, check to ensure that the SSH daemon is running. Then, connect the managed resource to the IBM Security Identity server. If SSH is not enabled, the connection fails.
Note: On an IPv6 environment, you might be required to configure SSH to listen on an IPv6 address. See the SSH man page on your workstation for detailed information.
Note: The following procedure is applicable to OpenSSH packages only.

Procedure

  1. Open the sshd_config file.
    This file can be found in different locations, depending on the operating system. Common locations are /etc/ssh or /opt/ssh/etc.
  2. Search for the following attributes and use the corresponding settings:
    Table 1. Secure Shell configuration
    Attribute Setting and description
    UsePrivilegeSeparation Yes

    Use this setting so that the adapter account is not locked after you do a user account operation.
    ClientAliveInterval 0

    This setting disables the ClientAliveInterval attribute. The adapter does not acknowledge client-keep-alive messages. If the managed resource sends such messages, the connection is ended as a result.
    PasswordAuthentication Yes

    Use this setting only if you are using password based authentication for your adapter service.