# ssh drops client after a few minutes



## cane (Jan 20, 2009)

im sure this is a simple fix but i can't find anything beyond what i have done and hoping that some has some other input im not seeing.

client drops after a few minutes of inactivity.

changed /etc/ssh/sshd_config file multiple times

ClientAliveInterval 0 (also have tried 300 and commenting it out.)
ClientAliveCountMax 0 ( same as above )

hope some has something and thanks ahead for you time.

cane


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## anomie (Jan 20, 2009)

Is the client behind a NAT device? If so, try setting *ServerAliveInterval 100* (or so) in the client's ~/.ssh/config file.


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## cane (Jan 20, 2009)

i added ServerAliveInterval 100 and it broke sshd. It does this from multiple locations not just one WAN address


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## cane (Jan 20, 2009)

here is my ssd_config 

# This is the sshd server system-wide configuration file.  See
# sshd_config(5) for more information.

# This sshd was compiled with PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin

# The strategy used for options in the default sshd_config shipped with
# OpenSSH is to specify options with their default value where
# possible, but leave them commented.  Uncommented options change a
# default value.

# Note that some of FreeBSD's defaults differ from OpenBSD's, and
# FreeBSD has a few additional options.

#VersionAddendum FreeBSD-20080901

Port 22
Protocol 2
#AddressFamily any
#ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
#ListenAddress ::

# Disable legacy (protocol version 1) support in the server for new
# installations. In future the default will change to require explicit
# activation of protocol 1
Protocol 2

# HostKey for protocol version 1
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
# HostKeys for protocol version 2
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key

# Lifetime and size of ephemeral version 1 server key
#KeyRegenerationInterval 1h
#ServerKeyBits 1024

# Logging
# obsoletes QuietMode and FascistLogging
#SyslogFacility AUTH
#LogLevel INFO

# Authentication:

LoginGraceTime 20s
PermitRootLogin no
#StrictModes yes
MaxAuthTries 3
MaxSessions 6

#RSAAuthentication yes
PubkeyAuthentication yes
#AuthorizedKeysFile     .ssh/authorized_keys

# For this to work you will also need host keys in /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
#RhostsRSAAuthentication no
# similar for protocol version 2
#HostbasedAuthentication no
# Change to yes if you don't trust ~/.ssh/known_hosts for
# RhostsRSAAuthentication and HostbasedAuthentication
#IgnoreUserKnownHosts no
# Don't read the user's ~/.rhosts and ~/.shosts files
#IgnoreRhosts yes

# Change to yes to enable built-in password authentication.
PasswordAuthentication yes
PermitEmptyPasswords no

# Change to no to disable PAM authentication
#ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes

# Kerberos options
#KerberosAuthentication no
#KerberosOrLocalPasswd yes
#KerberosTicketCleanup yes
#KerberosGetAFSToken no

# GSSAPI options
#GSSAPIAuthentication no
#GSSAPICleanupCredentials yes

# Set this to 'no' to disable PAM authentication, account processing,
# and session processing. If this is enabled, PAM authentication will
# be allowed through the ChallengeResponseAuthentication and
# PasswordAuthentication.  Depending on your PAM configuration,
# PAM authentication via ChallengeResponseAuthentication may bypass
# the setting of "PermitRootLogin without-password".
# If you just want the PAM account and session checks to run without
# PAM authentication, then enable this but set PasswordAuthentication
# and ChallengeResponseAuthentication to 'no'.
#UsePAM yes

#AllowAgentForwarding yes
#AllowTcpForwarding yes
#GatewayPorts no
#X11Forwarding yes
#X11DisplayOffset 10
#X11UseLocalhost yes
#PrintMotd yes
#PrintLastLog yes
#TCPKeepAlive yes
#UseLogin no
#UsePrivilegeSeparation yes
#PermitUserEnvironment no
#Compression delayed
ClientAliveInterval 0
ClientAliveCountMax 0
#UseDNS yes
#PidFile /var/run/sshd.pid
#MaxStartups 10
#PermitTunnel no
#ChrootDirectory none

# no default banner path
#Banner none


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## DutchDaemon (Jan 20, 2009)

Have you tried TCPKeepAlive on the client side? (ssh_config for command-line ssh, or a similar setting in a client like PuTTY).


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## cane (Jan 20, 2009)

yes the same putty connection doesn't have issues with any other ssh server.


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## SirDice (Jan 21, 2009)

There's most likely a firewall between the client and the server. As noted, turn on TCPKeepAlive on the client.


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## s-tlk (Jan 21, 2009)

Do you have set autologout to another value than 0 in tcsh for example? Or does the connection really quit with a timeout?


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## cane (Jan 21, 2009)

solved it was the keepalive on the putty end thank you to all your posts


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