Secure Shell (SSH) in HP SIM

Introduction
This is an era of the security conscious IT administrator. User names an
d passwords are no longer
passed in the clear over the intranet or Internet.
Administrators try to provide
secure access into
managed systems so that only authorized users have access to our most sensitive information.
In the past
Telnet was
used to
log in
to a remote system and
perform
commands that add, delete, and
modify files. However, Telnet is not a secure method and does not protect network traffic.
There is a small, unassuming, yet robust solution, which is reasonably easy to use, inexpensive, and
available for most of today’s operating systems. This solution is Secure Shell (SSH), which is not a
shell at all but a
secure remote access protocol.
The SSH protocol provides security on the network,
authentication, and data exchange with spoof protectio
ns and encryption.
HP SIM is a robust system management tool. Through use of the Distributed Task Facility (DTF) and
SSH, HP SIM is able to securely log into remote systems on behalf of the HP SIM user of the central
management server (CMS) and make modif
ications, additions, and run commands. The HP SIM
terminology for these processes is called tasks.
This white paper provides the following:

Provides a
n overview of SSH and OpenSSH, which is an implementation of SSH

Demonstrates how SSH is used in HP SIM
6
.x

Discusses some of the problems that can be encountered during its usage

Presents a recommended troubleshooting method when the SSH connection does not appear to be
working
Some of the programs installed into HP SIM, called plug
-
ins, also use the capabil
ities of SSH, and
mention is made of plug
-
ins where appropriate.
The custom commands and some command line tools (MSA) of HP SIM might require that SSH be
installed and configured on the CMS. Other tools (SSA) require SSH on the managed system where
they
are to run. Refer to
Appendix B: Tool examples
for examples of the MSA and SSA tools.
This paper focuses on the HP SIM version 6.x, which has a number of changes in SSH handling from
previous versions. Additi
onal white papers are available for earlier versions of HP SIM.
Why SSH?
SSH was selected to be used with HP SIM for the following reasons:

To provide a way to securely
issue
commands and copy files to remote systems

To provide secure authentication mecha
nisms

To encrypt all data sent over the wire, unlike the traditional UNIX® r services

To provide a popular, non
-
proprietary protocol
What is SSH
SSH is a protocol for secure remote access based on public key encryption. It provides a specification
for
to c
onduct
ing
secure communication
s
over the network. Communications to and from the remote
system uses the SSH protocol. This is conceptually similar to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) which is
another security protocol used in many internet communications such as
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
over Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS).
The SSH suite includes:

ssh
program
,
which replaces
rlogin
and
telnet