Summary
SSH is one of the primary configuration tools for the NetScaler appliance. This document contains information on how to change the idle timeout value of an SSH session.
Requirements
A NetScaler appliance with NetScaler software release 6.0 or later installed on it.
Configuring the SSH Idle Timeout
To configure the SSH idle timeout value for an SSH version 2 server, complete the following procedure:
- Log on to a NetScaler appliance after establishing a connection with it by using an SSH utility.
To install an SSH utility, you can download the client form the PuTTY link. This is one of the free SSH clients available over the Internet. - Run the shell command to switch to the shell prompt of the appliance.
- Open the /nsconfig/sshd_config file in a text editor, such as the vi editor. If the file does not exist, then make a copy the file existing in the /etc directory.
- Add the following entries to the sshd_config file:
ClientAliveInterval <Time_Interval_in_Seconds>
ClientAliveCountMax 0
In the preceding entries, the parameter Time_Interval_in_Seconds is the SSH idle timeout in seconds.
Note: Refer to the sshd_config link for more information about the parameters. It is recommended you to set the ClientAliveCountMax to 0. Otherwise, the idle timeout may not work. - Run the following command to kill and restart the sshd process:
kill -HUP <sshd_pid> - The process ID for the sshd process is stored in the /var/run/sshd.pid file. To display the process ID for the sshd daemon, run any of the following commands:
cat /var/run/sshd.pid
ps -aux|grep /usr/sbin/ssh
More Information
You can use the SSH version 1 on the NetScaler appliance. However, you cannot configure idle timeout for SSH version 1 connections.