What's new

Updated to latest (380_3264) but still can't enable SSH

  • SNBForums Code of Conduct

    SNBForums is a community for everyone, no matter what their level of experience.

    Please be tolerant and patient of others, especially newcomers. We are all here to share and learn!

    The rules are simple: Be patient, be nice, be helpful or be gone!

ags

Regular Contributor
I've been trying to enable SSH using OEM firmware. Learned it was in a newer release. Bit the bullet and updated to 380_3264. Release notes for previous (beta) release indicate "change to SSH and Telnet default access". I thought that was it. I have seen screenshots for the RT-AC66U with an Administration->System page with the SSH enable options. I have the RT-N66U. Even after the update and two reboots, I see the new version number on the page header, and some new features (the "App") but the Administration->System page is unchanged. Any ideas what's going on here?
 
I've been trying to enable SSH using OEM firmware. Learned it was in a newer release. Bit the bullet and updated to 380_3264. Release notes for previous (beta) release indicate "change to SSH and Telnet default access". I thought that was it. I have seen screenshots for the RT-AC66U with an Administration->System page with the SSH enable options. I have the RT-N66U. Even after the update and two reboots, I see the new version number on the page header, and some new features (the "App") but the Administration->System page is unchanged. Any ideas what's going on here?


http://www.snbforums.com/threads/no...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573


Do a full reset to factory defaults and then set up the router minimally and manually (i.e. do not use a saved backup config file).
 
I don't remember the stock 66u firmware ever having SSH option in the GUI when I used it.

If I have a chance tomorrow I will load the latest firmware on my 66u (need to take it out of storage) and report back.
 
Asus added SSH maybe a year or two ago. It's definitely there.
 
Why I said when I used it.

Moved to ac56u then ac68u so have not used 66u for some time now.

Still have the 66u somewhere in my storage so will see what latest firmware does on it.
 
Asus added SSH maybe a year or two ago. It's definitely there.
The previous version I used was 378.9313, which was released on 6 November 2015. It did not have SSH exposed in the (default) menus. In some content I've found online there seems to be discussion of "hidden" or "non-default" controls in the GUI (menus). Is there some setting, expert mode, or something else to be done to expose the SSH options on the menu? As noted before, I saw a screenshot from a running AC66U that had the SSH options displayed. Unless it was Photoshopped that shows it does exist. I presume (but may be totally wrong) that the firmware is the same between AC/N models, with only the radio being different between models. Also, I can confirm that the new firmware was downloaded and is in use since the new version is shown at the top of each menu page (and some other things have changed, like references to the new "Asus App". Is there something I could search for (login with Telnet) in the file system to prove that the correct content is available, like sshd (which I cannot find with "find / -name sshd -print")
 
I just checked Asus's build profile to get to the bottom of it. It turns out that for some odd reason, Asus did not enable SSH on their older MIPS-based routers (like the RT-N66U and RT-AC66U), only on their newer ARM models. No idea why, as the CPU of these routers is perfectly capable of running SSH...

So, Asus added SSH support, but only on some models.
 
No doubt you are correct.

Any idea what this means, taken from the Asus firmware release notes pages?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASUS RT-N66U Firmware version 9.0.0.4.380.2695
[Beta release]
Security Related
- Modified the access rights of account mode and share mode to asusware.platform path when lighttpd server is enabled. (Très Acton at BAE Systems Applied Intelligence)
- Modified the access rights to specific port of UPnP server. (Thanks to Acton)
- Updated lighttpd server version to 1.4.39 (Thanks to Tommi)
- Restriced access from wan method to enhance security. (Thanks for David)
- Changed SSH and Telnet default access interface.

New Features
- Supported auto dynamic port changing of UPnP server when ports conflict.
- Supported more ASUS Router App new features

Bug fixed
- Fixed the GUI issue for reboot scheduler
- Fixed httpd/ Telnetd/ SSH restart issue after LAN address changed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, I now see that the screen shot I found here which I've been referring to is in fact from Merlin firmware (as seen at the top of the page (below)). However, while the author does state he is using Merlin firmware, he does also go on to say:

"You do not need to use a custom firmware to enable SSH!"​

which I took to mean that the OEM firmware also had this capability.

upload_2016-6-24_11-23-1.png


This is really puzzling...
 
Last edited:
Any idea what this means, taken from the Asus firmware release notes pages?

It simply means that Asus did a plain copy/paste of the changelog from all the other models that were released at the same time. In the case of the RT-N66U, this only applies to telnet. What they changed is that these daemon will bind to specific IPs rather than bind to all available interfaces.

which I took to mean that the OEM firmware also had this capability.

Re-read my previous post to the explanation for that one. It's simply Asus's featureset not being consistent across their different models.
 
It simply means that Asus did a plain copy/paste of the changelog from all the other models that were released at the same time. In the case of the RT-N66U, this only applies to telnet. What they changed is that these daemon will bind to specific IPs rather than bind to all available interfaces.

Seems even that change didn't make it into the N66U model. My Telnet options are still the same, no option to bind to specific addresses. Oh well, at least I know my options now. Either use a RPi as an ssh server, or move to your firmware (or give up on ssh capability).
 
My Telnet options are still the same, no option to bind to specific addresses

It's not a user configurable option, it's how the code works internally. Simply a poor choice of words from Asus (remember, their development is done in Taiwan, so they ain't native English speakers).
 
I'm going to be quiet now. This must be the most times I've been wrong in a single thread. Ever...

Thanks for taking the time to get to the bottom of this.
 

Latest threads

Sign Up For SNBForums Daily Digest

Get an update of what's new every day delivered to your mailbox. Sign up here!
Top