How can I edit the welcome message when ssh start?

Question

I have a VPS for my website hosting. It is running a Ubuntu server. Every time I logged in my server by ssh, it displays a lengthy welcome message in my terminal.

Linux node61.buyvm.net 2.6.18-pony6-3 #1 SMP Tue Mar 13 07:31:44 PDT 2012 x86_64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software; the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Last login: Wed Jul 11 12:08:19 2012 from 113.72.193.52 Linux node61.buyvm.net 2.6.18-pony6-3 #1 SMP Tue Mar 13 07:31:44 PDT 2012 x86_64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software; the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law. entered into CT 17323 -bash-4.2#

After doing some researches about this(yes i was just googling around), I realized that my server should have a .bashrc and .bash_profile (or .profile) controlling this. I use vim to open my .bashrc and .profile and I couldn't seem to find any line of codes that would display message in my terminal. Therefore I am wondering if there is like another file for this?

I want to comment out those welcome message because my SFTP is not working with an error (Received message too long 761422195). I am pretty sure that this error is caused by my server's welcome message.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/100052/modify-the-ssh-welcome-message-to-include-system-ip-address — , Jul 12 '12 at 04:40

score 108 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 30 '17 at 22:31

108

You need to edit two files:

/etc/motd (Message of the Day)
/etc/ssh/sshd_config: Change the setting PrintLastLog to "no", this will disable the "Last login" message.

And then restart your sshd.

edited Apr 30 '17 at 22:31

EEAA

108,414
18
172
242

answered Jul 12 '12 at 04:48

Dane Balia

1,212
1
9
3

11

Changing PrintLastLog to NO have nagative impact on security. @RodyOldenhuis give better answer. – Igor S. Nov 09 '14 at 18:56
1

His answer was completely fine. It *does* explain how to change the login message. – Alexander C. Solon Mar 08 '16 at 23:42
1

`sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart` after editing `sshd_config` – Mehdiway Dec 21 '16 at 23:50
Note: the ssh motd is not the same as the versionAddendum which can be changed in sshd_config – Ray Foss Oct 10 '20 at 03:03

Rody Oldenhuis · Answer 2 · 2020-04-23T22:28:48.430

65

You need to change the contents of /etc/motd. Unfortunately, by default, /etc/motd is a link to /var/run/motd which gets reset every time you login. To make permanent changes, please do the following:

sudo rm /etc/motd
sudo nano /etc/motd

or whatever editor you prefer. Then enter the message you want shown if any, and save the file.

Removing the "last seen" message (e.g., setting PrintLastLog to no in /etc/ssh/sshd_config) is not recommended -- time of last login is valuable security information. It allows for a way to check if someone you did not expect has logged into the system recently. Anyway, it's possible, but do so knowingly.

edited Apr 23 '20 at 22:28

answered Jul 12 '12 at 13:16

Rody Oldenhuis

602
4
13

See also `/etc/motd.tail` which may be used, depending on the system. – jezmck Jun 19 '17 at 11:58
On a Debian 9 `/etc/motd` is a regular file and `/etc/motd.tail` didn't work @jezmck. – Pablo A Jan 19 '18 at 17:40
@PabloBianchi hmm...I don't have a similar system to test this. Can you let me know if/when you managed to solve it? – Rody Oldenhuis Jan 19 '18 at 17:49
@RodyOldenhuis solve what? I just `sudo nano /etc/motd` and it worked. – Pablo A Jan 19 '18 at 17:53
1

@PabloBianchi: ah, I misunderstood. I thought you meant changing the regular file didn't work...Nevermind :) – Rody Oldenhuis Jan 19 '18 at 17:54

score 34 · Answer 3 · answered May 31 '13 at 22:48

34

On a per-user basis, you can run touch ~/.hushlogin to disable the messages.

answered May 31 '13 at 22:48

Kelly

443
4
7

score 12 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 06 '13 at 08:29

12

Create a new file and edit the welcome message. Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config. In that there will be a line called

#Banner /some/path

Edit that path with the newly created welcome message path.

Like,

Banner /var/www/welcome.msg

Restart ssh. Now it 'll work.

answered Aug 06 '13 at 08:29

Stuart

237
2
2

6

This does not remove the motd message, only appends the contents of /var/www/welcome.msg before that (at least on Ubuntu 12.04) – Akseli Palén Sep 05 '13 at 08:25

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 26 '14 at 07:10

5

Could be modifying the /etc/issue file, try this:

Current date: \d Current time: \t System name: \s Architecture: \m OS build info: \v Hostname: \n Kernel: \r Number of logged-in users: \u.

answered Aug 26 '14 at 07:10

Ricardo Carrillo

59
1
1

Issue is the banner before login, motd is the longer message after the login. – eckes Apr 30 '17 at 23:39

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 20 '14 at 20:44

3

Create the file /etc/motd.tail and write there everything you need. The file /etc/motd will be generated upon every system boot based on the contents of /etc/motd.tail.

answered Dec 20 '14 at 20:44

David A.

41
2

Dmitry Fisenko · Answer 7 · 2021-03-17T21:11:44.250

0

Another way is to use neofetch, like neofetch example

to accomplish that you need to

call sudo apt-get install neofetch
call sudo bash -c $'echo "neofetch" >> /etc/profile.d/mymotd.sh && chmod +x /etc/profile.d/mymotd.sh'

edited Mar 17 '21 at 21:11

answered Mar 16 '21 at 15:15

Dmitry Fisenko

1
2

We've found that link-only answers rot over time. Please add at least a summary of what the target page shows, so this answer can stand alone. Otherwise, this answer will get (eventually) deleted when the linked page disappears. – sysadmin1138 Mar 16 '21 at 20:50

How can I edit the welcome message when ssh start?

7 Answers7

Linked