Red Hat Knowledgebase

This article recommends that you also restrict access to your system by limiting users root access with the su command. Please see additional articles in our knowledgebase on how to restrict the use of su command.

This disallows direct root login, so when you connect using SSH you need to first login as a normal user, then su to obtain root access.

• Edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file with a text editor and find the following line:

  #PermitRootLogin yes

  Change the yes to no and remove the '#' at the beginning of the line so that it reads:

  PermitRootLogin no

• Restart the sshd service:

  # service sshd restart

  For example:

  # service sshd restart
  Stopping sshd:                                             [  OK  ]
  Starting sshd:                                             [  OK  ]
  

Additional workstation security information can be found in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3: Security Guide - Chapter 4. Workstation Security at: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-3-Manual/security-guide/s1-wstation-privileges.html