Configure Remote Administration Using Putty and SSH

As a modern system administrator, you will often find yourself managing networks and systems with mixed environments. Users will often need both Windows and Linux systems to perform their jobs. Both operating systems offer unique benefits and come with unique challenges. Knowing how to correctly network and manage connections between these systems is a critical skill system administrators must master.

This virtual lab will teach you the skills you need to securely manage remote connection between Windows and Linux environments. You will learn how to SSH with PuTTY and how to connect a remote server in Linux or Windows. PuTTY is a commonly-used tool for SSH connections, and knowing how to use PuTTY to SSH is vital for successful system administrators.

Understand the scenario: You are a system administrator for a mixed environment of Linux and Windows systems. You need to configure a solution that permits Windows SSH clients to connect securely to a Linux SSH server.

Understand the environment: You will use a default installation of Windows Server 2016 and a default installation of CentOS 7 Linux with Server with GUI packages installed.

Configure SSH on Linux:

For the first step of this hands-on lab, you will configure the SSH settings on the Linux environment. You will:

• Create a new remote user with administrator privileges.
• Delegate the ability to run all commands without password challenges to the new administrator.
• Edit the sshd configuration.
• Add settings to the /etc/ssh/sshd config file.
• Verify the SSH connection on the Linux environment.

Configure PuTTY on Windows:

For the next step, you will install and configure PuTTY for Windows. You will install PuTTY with the default options from a virtual DVD drive.

Test the SSH connection:

Next, you will test the SSH connection between the Windows and Linux environments using PuTTY. You will:

• SSH from the Windows system to the Linux with each user account by using PuTTY.
• Save a profile for the administrator account you created in the first step.
• Edit the ssh configuration to remove SSH permissions from a user.

Configure the firewall to allow the SSH port number change:

In this step, you will modify the firewall settings for SSH. You will:

• Set the SSH to list on an additional port.
• Edit the firewall settings to open the new port.
• Change the SELinux settings to permit the new SSH port number.
• Verify the SSH connection.

View SSH connection log information:

For the final step of this guided challenge, you will view the SSH log. You will view and search the log of sign-in attempts, both successful and failed. You will also verify that the SSH service is listed on both the default port and the port you opened in the previous step.

Summary:

The ability to manage remote access between mixed environment systems is a must-have for system administrators. You fulfill this role; you will need to understand how to modify SSH settings and be comfortable using PuTTY to SSH. This lab will give you real-world experience managing SSH between Linux and Windows environments.

In the “Configure Remote Administration Using Putty and SSH” virtual lab, you will accomplish the following:

• Create remote administrator accounts.
• Install and use PuTTY for SSH.
• Create an additional SSH port number.
• Edit the Linux firewall SELinux services settings to commit connections using the new port number.
• Display SSH service logs.

Other Challenges in this series:

• GUIDED CHALLENGE: Using Encryption to Secure Information
• ADVANCED CHALLENGE: Can you Configure Alerts and Archiving for Log Files in Linux?