SSH Connection Issue

[sammyano]

Guys,
Am on .53 firmware with the following settings in Administration >> Systems -

Enable SSH - Yes
Allow SSH Port Forwarding - No
SSH Service Port - 22
Allow SSH access from WAN - No
Allow SSH password login - Yes
Enable SSH Brute Force Protection - No
Enable Telnet - Yes
Authentication Method - Both
Enable Web Access from WAN - No
I tried this evening to connect via Winscp / Putty but getting "Network error Connection timed out".
I have not changed anything recently on the router, I have checked the system log for any dropbear related error but none. All I can see if this "May 8 20:32:31 dropbear[4411]: Running in background"
PS - Am able to FTP and Telnet to router without or error, any ideas what to change?

cheers

 

[RMerlin]

Make sure you use the correct protocol. For instance in Putty, make sure it's set to SSH and not Telnet.

Also make sure you don't have any forward configured on port 23, which would override the router's own ssh daemon.

 

[sammyano]

Merlin - Yes Putty was set to SSH and I don't have any port forwarding on my router. Is there any command to restart dropbear manually. I have restarted router couple of times with no joy.

 

[Martineau]

Merlin - Yes Putty was set to SSH and I don't have any port forwarding on my router. Is there any command to restart dropbear manually. I have restarted router couple of times with no joy.

My HP-Spectre running Win 8.1 is my main laptop, and after about a week I may randomly experience the same issue, where my desktop shortcuts for WinSCP and PLINK are unable to connect to my RT-AC56U.

I installed PortQueryUI to try and see if it was the router or the laptop. Strangely, usually a couple of minutes after PortQuery also fails to report that SSH is in 'Listening' state on the router, everything then suddenly starts to connect as normal.

Rebooting the laptop always restores connectivity so this saves having to reboot the router. Not conclusive but perhaps try rebooting your access device rather than the router to see if this restores your connectivity.

 

[sammyano]

@Martineanu, I have rebooted my Win 7 and even uninstalled WinScp / Putty, reinstalled but still no joy

 

[Nullity]

Once or twice I have had dropbear glitch and stop accepting incoming connections on my RT-N66U. It is rare, and a simple reboot brought dropbear back to life.

 

[sammyano]

I have restarted router several times but still no joy , this is really doing my head in now

 

[john9527]

Are you using Merlin's new policy based routing for VPNs? Strictly a guess....but if you are, try disabling it and see if it changes things.

 

[Nullity]

Are you using SSH keys? I think a improperly formatted key caused me some problems once.

 

[sammyano]

Are you using Merlin's new policy based routing for VPNs? Strictly a guess....but if you are, try disabling it and see if it changes things.

Nope

 

[sammyano]

Are you using SSH keys? I think a improperly formatted key caused me some problems once.

No am not using any ssh key

 

[sammyano]

Guys, to my surprise (without making any changes) I tried again this morning and was able to connect. I was going wipe my router off and start from scratch. Could it be that dropbear at times fails to connect or what. Lastly, is there any command to check if its started/running and also to re-start. I would appreciate any command to check as this really did my head in all night.

 

[Nullity]

I would just reset the settings to the Factory Default and postpone anymore trouble-shooting until that proves to be ineffective.

 

[martinr]

When you said you hadn't changed anything recently on the router, I inferred that you've often used ssh before without any similar problem and you've done so for some considerable time (and firmware updates) previously. Is that correct?

I have ssh setup on my RT-AC68U and thankfully have never had any such problems logging in either from my iPhone or my laptop, other than when I haven't done so for a while and have become a bit rusty on a procedure in Putty. I use pwsafe password manager so I cut and paste in any login credentials, but typing errors are clearly not your problem. Do you use any other device to ssh in, eg a smart phone, as an effective alternative troubleshooting aid?

Sorry, can't help with your request for commands but I'm poised with pencil and paper waiting for one of the experts to reply.

 

[mischa]

I have the same problem, cannot connect to the router with winSCP.
Telnet with putty works fine.

 

[martinr]

I have the same problem, cannot connect to the router with winSCP.
Telnet with putty works fine.

You've set the file protocol to SCP rather than the default SFTP?

 

[hardtotell]

Sometimes dropbear crashes and there's no way to login remotely. Here's way that could automatically restart dropbear, when it is not running.

/jffs/scripts/services-start

#!/bin/sh
cru a CheckSSHD "*/5 * * * * (/bin/pidof dropbear 2>&1 >/dev/null || /sbin/run_sshd)"