Steps to resolve the Authentication probelms in SSH session in iTest

SSH Authentication Problems

Sometimes when we configure the SSH session, we are unable to start the session because of the Authentication errors. Below are some of the reasons with the solutions to these Authentication errors:

• Wrong SSH Version specified: By default (Auto) when Spirent iTest connects to the SSH server, they negotiate to determine the SSH version that they both support. Spirent iTest supports both SSH Version 1 (SSHv1 - not recommended) and SSH Version 2 (SSHv2).

• Wrong SSH Authentication type used with the specified SSH Version type: We need to specify the type of authentication that the server allows. When we specify an authentication type, we have to specify the authentication settings, as below.

Please refer the below table to check the Authentication supported by the respective SSH Version type:

We need to specify the Authentication type based on the SSH Version we are using. Below are some important points regarding the Authentication Type being used:

1. SSH authentication: Password (SSHv1 and SSHv2)

• Password: We need to enter the password which is being used to connect to the remote host.
• Use credentials file: Using Password as Authentication type we have an option to obtain all the correct credentials from the specified text file. But the authentication file is not encrypted.
• Credentials file: Specify the filename and path of the credentials file to login. The text file must use a space character for the first line. On the second line, type: <username>[space]<password> 

       2.   SSH authentication: Keyboard Interactive (SSHv2)

• Answers: It is a mandatory field and we need to specify the answers to use when responding to the server challenge. We can specify multiple answers by clicking on Details and type one answer per line.

       3.  SSH authentication: Public Key (SSHv2)

• Key File: Path to the Client Key File in use with the URI that starts with file:// or project://.
• Passphrase: It is an OPTIONAL field wherein we can specify the Passphrase which can be used to access the Private Key in the Key File.

       4.  SSH authentication: Host Based (SSHv1 and SSHv2)

• Key File: Path to the Client Key File in use with the URI that starts with file:// or project://.
• Passphrase: It is an OPTIONAL field wherein we can specify the Passphrase which can be used to access the Private Key in the Key File.
• Client Hostname: Here we need to specify the Hostname of the Client. This is an OPTIONAL field for SSHv1 but REQUIRED for SSHv2.
• Client Username: We are required to specify the Username on the Client's Computer. For example, if we have logged into the Client with Username ABC and want to connect to the remote host with Username XYZ. Specify XYZ as the User property value and ABC for Client Username.

       5.  SSH authentication: ChallengeResponse (SSHv1)

• Challenge answer: We are required to specify the answer to provide when responding to the server challenge.