Secure Shell

What is Secure Shell?

FreedomBox runs openssh-server server by default allowing remote logins from all interfaces. If your hardware device is connected to a monitor and a keyboard, you may login directly as well. Regular operation of FreedomBox does not require you to use the shell. However, some tasks or identifying a problem may require you to login to a shell.

Default User Account

The pre-built FreedomBox images have a default user account called "fbx". However the password is not set for this account, so it will not be possible to log in with this account by default.

There is a script included in the freedom-maker program, that will allow you to set the password for this account, if it is needed. To set a password for the "fbx" user:

1. Decompress the image file.

2. Get a copy of freedom-maker from https://github.com/freedombox/freedom-maker.

3. Run sudo ./bin/passwd-in-image <image-file> fbx.

4. Copy the image file to SD card and boot device as normal.

The "fbx" user also has superuser privileges via sudo.

Users created via Plinth

When you open Plinth (Freedombox's web interface) for the first time, you will be prompted to create a new user which is a member of the "admin" group. One can log in to the Freedombox remotely via SSH as a user which is a member of the admin group. The username and password are the ones you defined during the setup process.

Logging In

To login via SSH, to your FreedomBox:

$ ssh fbx@freedombox

Replace fbx with the name of the user you wish to login as. freedombox should be replaced with the hostname or IP address of you FreedomBox device as found in the Quick Start process.

fbx is the default user present on FreedomBox with superuser privileges. Any other user created using Plinth and belonging to the group admin will be able to login. The root account has no password set and will not be able to login. Access will be denied to all other users.

fbx and users in admin group will also be able to login on the terminal directly. Other users will be denied access.

If you repeatedly try to login as a user and fail, you will be blocked from logging in for some time. This is due to libpam-abl package that FreedomBox installs by default. To control this behavior consult libpam-abl documentation.

Becoming Superuser

After logging in, if you want to become the superuser for performing administrative activities:

$ sudo su

Make a habit of logging in as root only when you need to. If you aren't logged in as root, you can't accidentally break everything.

Changing Password

To change the password of a user managed by Plinth, use the change password page. However, the fbx default user is not managed by Plinth and its password cannot be changed in the web interface.

To change password on the terminal, log in to your FreedomBox as the user whose password you want to change. Then, run the following command:

$ passwd

This will ask you for your current password before giving you the opportunity to set a new one.


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