
To set up a secure and authenticated SSH connection, the server and client must go 
through the communication procedure that falls into five stages; version negotiation, 
key algorithm negotiation, authentication type negotiation, session request, and 
session interaction. 
3.1  Configuring SSH 
The basic configuration of SSH is required for the SSH Client to connect to the SSH 
Server (router) successfully. Advanced SSH configurations are optional. 
Basic SSH configurations include: 
  Set the protocol supported by the system and the allowed maximum number of 
connections 
  Configure and destroy the local RSA key-pair 
  Configure authentication type for an SSH user 
Advanced SSH configurations include: 
  Set the interval for updating server key 
  Set timeout time in SSH authentication 
  Set the number of SSH authentication retries 
  Access the public key view and edit the key 
  Assign a public key to an SSH user 
The default remote login protocol is Telnet, instead of SSH.   You must set the remote 
login protocol supported by the system to SSH and set the maximum number of the 
connections. 
Perform the following configuration in system view. 
Table 3-1 Set remote login protocol and the maximum number of connections 
Operation Command 
Set the remote login protocol supported by 
the system and the allowed maximum 
number of connections
 protocol inbound { ssh
 | 
telnet
 } 
numbers 
[ 
acl acl-number
 ]
By default, only Telnet is supported (in this case, up to five simultaneous connections 
are allowed), SSH login is not supported, and ACL is not used. 
Perform this task to generate server and host key-pairs. If there exist RSA key-pairs, 
the system will ask if you want to replace the existing keys. The generated key-pairs 
are represented by “router name + server” and “router name + host”. A server key-pair 
and a host key-pair have a difference of at least 128 bits in size. Both of them have 
the same minimum and maximum sizes, i.e., 512 bits and 2048 bits.  
Perform the following configuration in system view. 
3Com Router Configuration Guide Addendum for V1.20
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