Changing The ssh Login Banner

Question & Answer

Question

How can I add a message to ssh that users will see when they log in?

Answer

The OpenSSH SSH daemon /usr/sbin/sshd can be modified to present a custom banner ( or herald ) to the user when he or she logs in. This banner will be present if using either shared key login or normal password-prompted login.

First, create a banner file that will be printed when a user logs in via ssh. A good place to keep this file is in the ssh configuration directory /etc/ssh

# cd /etc/ssh # vi mybanner

Add whatever text you wish:

This is the ssh banner

Next, edit the sshd configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config and uncomment this entry, pointing it to the path of the file you just created:

# no default banner path
#Banner none Banner /etc/ssh/mybanner

Then stop and restart sshd to have it re-read the configuration file and use the banner:

# stopsrc -s sshd
0513-044 The sshd Subsystem was requested to stop.
# startsrc -s sshd
0513-059 The sshd Subsystem has been started. Subsystem PID is 225440.

The next time a user connects via ssh they will see the banner:

$ ssh puma
This is the ssh banner
bob@puma's password:

For users with shared keys it will look like:

$ ssh puma This is the ssh banner

NOTE:
sshd does not use the herald information from the /etc/security/login.cfg configuration file. This is only used by native AIX programs.

[{"Product":{"code":"SWG10","label":"AIX"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Component":"Not Applicable","Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"}],"Version":"5.3;6.1","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB08","label":"Cognitive Systems"}}]

Was this topic helpful?

Document Information

More support for:
AIX

Software version:
5.3, 6.1

Operating system(s):
AIX

Document number:
670415

Modified date:
17 June 2018

UID

isg3T1011768

IBM Support

Tips