Services, SSH and the clock

Switching a service on or off

/etc/rc.conf says which services of the added packages run at boot, and holds their settings. One line each, no blanks around =:

syslogd=yes
display=no
ifup_dhcpwait=30

service=yes or no switches a service; service_key=value is one of its settings, named in the service's own manual page. A service with no line gets its own default, which its page states. Installing, updating or removing a package never changes the file. A bad value is reported in the boot log, /var/adm/rc.log. See rc.conf(4).

The original Amiga UNIX services in /etc/rc2.d do not read this file.

Line	Default	What
`syslogd=`	`yes`	the system log
`display=`	`yes`	a graphical login at boot; nothing in 1.1 uses it yet, `display=no` switches it off for good
`ifup_dhcpwait=`	`20`	seconds the boot waits for a DHCP lease
`ifup_bound=`	`120`	seconds the whole network bring-up may take at boot
`dropbear=`	`yes`	the SSH server: remote login
`dropbear_flags=`	none	options for the SSH server, e.g. `-g`: remote login
`dropbear_keytime=`	`900`	seconds the first start may spend making the host key
`ntp=`	`yes`	setting the clock from the network: the clock
`ntp_servers=`	`0.pool.ntp.org 1.pool.ntp.org 2.pool.ntp.org`	time servers asked after the ones DHCP gives

The network itself, the device nodes and swap are not switched here. Other packages say in their own pages whether they read this file.

Making a change take effect

At the next boot, or at once, as root:

/etc/init.d/syslogd stop
/etc/init.d/syslogd start

The script has the service's name: /etc/init.d/syslogd, /etc/init.d/display. The start reads /etc/rc.conf again, so a service you set to no stays off. For the network, use ifdown and ifup: Networking.

SSH is on in every 1.1 install: the Dropbear server, with the client ssh (also called dbclient), scp and dropbearkey. Log in with ssh root@<address> or as any user. dropbear=no in /etc/rc.conf switches the server off. See dropbear(8).

The first start makes the machine's own host key, in the background, so the boot is not held up; at the first boot the server answers a few minutes after power-on, later boots sooner. No key is shipped on any image: each machine makes its own.
Root may log in by password or by key; an empty password is refused. To limit that, set dropbear_flags= in /etc/rc.conf: -w refuses root altogether, -g lets root in by key only, -s lets every user in by key only.
There is no SFTP: from a recent OpenSSH, copy with scp -O.
Logging in takes under 3 seconds on a 68060, and the key exchange under 2 seconds, the post-quantum hybrid included (measured on an A4000 with a Z3660); copying with scp runs at about 170 KB/s.

telnet and ftp are the original Amiga UNIX services, unchanged: inetd runs them, from /etc/inet/inetd.conf. They send passwords in the clear.

Whether root may log in over telnet is one line in /etc/default/login. The first-boot question Do you want to allow root to log in over the network? sets it:

#CONSOLE=/dev/console (commented out): root may log in anywhere, by telnet too;
CONSOLE=/dev/console: root only on the console.

To change it later, edit that line as root. An update of the system keeps your edit and puts any new default beside it as /etc/default/login.new. The line does not apply to SSH: use dropbear_flags= (above).

The clock

With ntp=yes, the default, the system sets its clock from the network at boot and every hour, and writes the time to the battery clock. It asks the time servers your DHCP server names first, then those in ntp_servers=. See ntpsync(1M).

The boot does not wait for it: the first setting runs in the background.
The hourly run is a line in root's crontab; ntp=no takes it out at the next boot.
The pool names need a name server. Without one, /var/adm/rc.log says so at each boot: add a dns line to /etc/inet/interfaces (changing the network), or give addresses, e.g. ntp_servers="192.0.2.5".

Networking · First boot