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disable-ssh-access.md

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Disable SSH access for a non-root user in Ubuntu

Method 1: Modify User's Shell

  1. Change User's Shell:

You can change the user's shell to something like /sbin/nologin or /bin/false. This prevents the user from logging in via SSH.

sudo usermod -s /sbin/nologin username

Replace username with the non-root user's username.

  1. To Enable SSH access back

To enable SSH access for a user after disabling it using /sbin/nologin, you'll need to change their shell back to a valid login shell. Here's how you can do it:

sudo usermod -s /bin/bash username

Replace username with the username of the user for whom you want to enable SSH access.

This command changes the user's shell back to /bin/bash, allowing them to log in via SSH again.

Method 2: Update SSH Configuration

  1. Edit SSH Configuration:

Edit the SSH configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config using a text editor like nano or vim.

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
  1. Deny User's Access:

Add the following line at the end of the file to deny SSH access for the specific user:

DenyUsers username

Replace username with the non-root user's username.

  1. Restart SSH Service:

After saving the changes, restart the SSH service for the changes to take effect.

sudo systemctl restart sshd
  1. To Enable SSH access back

Remove this line or comment it out by adding a # at the beginning of the line.

# DenyUsers username

After making the changes, restart the SSH service for the changes to take effect.

sudo systemctl restart sshd

Note

  • Make sure you have administrative privileges (sudo) to perform these actions.
  • Disabling SSH access using Method 1 allows the user to continue using other services on the system, while Method 2 denies access only to SSH. Choose the method based on your requirements.