# Can't SSH to my Mac



## redneon (Jul 24, 2006)

I enabled Remote Login under System Preferences to allow myself to SSH to my Mac externally but when I do "ssh -l UserName myIPAddress" I get an error that says "Connection closed by myIPAddress". It doesn't even ask for my password.

I'm obviously missing something but I can't think what it could be.

This is the output that I get if I do "ssh -v -l UserName myIPAddress":

$ ssh -v -l UserName myIPAddress
OpenSSH_4.3p2, OpenSSL 0.9.8b 04 May 2006
debug1: Connecting to myIPAddress [xx.xx.xxx.xxx] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: identity file /home/UserName/.ssh/identity type -1
debug1: identity file /home/UserName/.ssh/id_rsa type -1
debug1: identity file /home/UserName/.ssh/id_dsa type -1
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_3.8.1p1
debug1: match: OpenSSH_3.8.1p1 pat OpenSSH_3.*
debug1: Enabling compatibility mode for protocol 2.0
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_4.3
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
Connection closed by xx.xx.xxx.xxx

Also, I get the same problem if I try and connect via the loopback address (127.0.0.1).

Any ideas?


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## fryke (Jul 24, 2006)

Please add the machine you're trying this on as well as the OS version number. I see that your version of OpenSSH and OpenSSL differ from mine. Did you install them separately? Mine are OpenSSH_3.8.1p1, OpenSSL 0.9.7i and come with Mac OS X 10.4.7 (Client) on intel. I haven't activated any services, though...


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## redneon (Jul 24, 2006)

I'm on 10.4.7 too. I did perform the recent software update, though. Apparently the System Version is 10.4.7 (8J2135a) if that makes a difference.


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## gsahli (Jul 24, 2006)

I don't use those switches - try it without them, ie, ssh username@IP_address.

You do have an account at the other end, so you'll have a home directory, right?


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## redneon (Jul 24, 2006)

I've tried it using userName@IPAddress before but I get the same result. The account is valid too and there's a home directory.


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## gsahli (Jul 24, 2006)

Starting to sound like something wrong with your OS X install.
First thing I'd try is download the 10.4.7 Combination Updater and re-update.


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## redneon (Jul 24, 2006)

That seems a bit rash but I'll give it a go.

Where can I get the combination updater?


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## gsahli (Jul 24, 2006)

It says Combo PPC (or Intel):
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/


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## redneon (Jul 25, 2006)

Wow, it worked. Thanks.

Just out of interest, what did it do exactly? I already had the update so did it just overwrite it?


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## fryke (Jul 25, 2006)

We don't really know. It's just a fact that people tend to have more problems with delta updaters (through Software Update, mostly) than with combo updaters, and that some problems users are having after updating their systems can be solved with the combo updaters. It's what we call "magic". We dont' _need_ to know why it works, as long as it works.


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## billbaloney (Jul 25, 2006)

The cause of SSH/SSL issues is very often conflicting library versions.  It's the first thing to check when there's nothing obvious causing the connection failure.  If the client and server have libraries where even one call on one side is deprecated on the other, the connection will get dropped.

Most likely the delta updater missed a library update, and the Combo Updater caught it.  It shouldn't be your problem to figure it out, but there you go!


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## missshirin (Nov 17, 2011)

Could you solve your problem? I've got the same problem... I cannot ssh to my mac even from my own notebook...I also could not find the hosts.allow file in /etc/ and I made one with the "sshd:ALL" as context...


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