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I want to ssh from one host (OpenWrt running Dropbear) to another host on the same LAN that is running open-ssh server and client.

I converted the private open-ssh key of the other host to dropbear format and saved it to ~/.ssh/ncp_key_dropbear on the OpenWrt host.

Now I can ssh from OpenWrt to the other host like this:

# ssh -i ncp_key_dropbear [email protected] -p 22

I also made a ~/.ssh/config file on the OpenWrt host like this:

Host ncp
        User root
        Port 22
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/ncp_key_dropbear
        HostName 192.168.1.124

But when I try to ssh now with this command:

# ssh ncp

I get this error...

root@OpenWrt:~/.ssh# ssh ncp

ssh: Connection to root@ncp:22 exited: Connect failed: Error resolving 'ncp' port '22'. Name does not resolve

Actually I get the same error even if I change the Port to 1022 even though the sshd on the remote host is also listening on that port.

I set up a ~/.ssh/config file on the other host as above, except I use an open-ssh client on that host, and can ssh from it to OpenWrt like this:

# ssh openwrt

So why is my config file not working on the OpenWrt? Does Dropbear not know anything about ~/.ssh/config files? Here is an article from 2009 that seems to suggest that but surely things have changed?

Cheers,

Flex

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4
  • 1
    Dropbear is not OpenSSH. And nothing in that tutorial you linked to says anything about a config file.
    – Michael Hampton
    Jan 3, 2021 at 6:10
  • Is that another one of those snarky responses I always get on serverfault? Yes I realize dropbear is not openssh. I provided that old link because it suggests that Dropbear may not know anything about a config file as a way to supply ssh client connection parameters. If you can help clarify this matter for me I would be very grateful. Thank you.
    – FlexMcMurphy
    Jan 3, 2021 at 13:26
  • 2
    Indeed, neither the dropbear server nor client read a config file. If they did, it would be documented in their man pages. But a quick look at both of them shows nothing.
    – Michael Hampton
    Jan 3, 2021 at 18:43
  • 1
    That was a good idea to check the man page! If you'd like to make an official answer I will accept it. Either way, thanks very much.
    – FlexMcMurphy
    Jan 3, 2021 at 21:49

1 Answer 1

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4

I got confirmation from the author of Dropbear that it does not currently support a configuration file such as ~/.ssh/config.

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