System information

Configuring Secure Shell (SSH)
Terminology
Note SSH in HP Procurve switches is based on the OpenSSH software toolkit. For
more information on OpenSSH, visit http://www.openssh.com
.
Switch SSH and User Password Authentication . This option is a subset
of the client public-key authentication show in figure 6-1. It occurs if the switch
has SSH enabled but does not have login access (login public-key) configured
to authenticate the client’s key. As in figure
6-1, the switch authenticates itself
to SSH clients. Users on SSH clients then authenticate themselves to the
switch (login and/or enable levels) by providing passwords stored locally on
the switch or on a TACACS+ or RADIUS server. However, the client does not
use a key to authenticate itself to the switch.
HP
Switch
(SSH
Server)
SSH
Client
Work-
Station
1. Switch-to-Client SSH
2. User-to-Switch (login password and
enable password authentication)
options:
– Local
– TACACS+
Figure 6-2. Switch/User Authentication
On the switches covered by this guide, SSH supports these data encryption
methods:
■ 3DES (168-bit)
■ DES (56-bit)
Note HP ProCurve switches use RSA keys for internally generated keys (v1/v2
shared host key & v1 server key). The switch supports both RSA and DSA/DSS
keys for clients. All references to either a public or private key mean keys
generated using these algorithms, unless otherwise noted
Terminology
■ SSH Server: An HP switch with SSH enabled.
■ Key Pair: A pair of keys generated by the switch or an SSH client
application. Each pair includes a public key, that can be read by
anyone and a private key held internally in the switch or by a client.
6-3