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

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

116

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

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answered Jul 12 '12 at 04:48

Dane Balia

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Changing PrintLastLog to NO have nagative impact on security. @RodyOldenhuis give better answer. – Igor S. Nov 09 '14 at 18:56
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His answer was completely fine. It *does* explain how to change the login message. – Alexander C. Solon Mar 08 '16 at 23:42
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`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

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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

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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
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@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 37 · Answer 3 · answered May 31 '13 at 22:48

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

answered May 31 '13 at 22:48

Kelly

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 23 '23 at 08:51

In most Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, the /etc/update-motd.d/ folder contains scripts that are used to generate the Message of the Day (MoTD) displayed when a user logs into the system via SSH. These scripts can be used to display relevant or interesting information to users upon accessing the system.

Here are some of the default files you might find in the /etc/update-motd.d/ folder on an Ubuntu system:

00-header: This file displays the header of the Message of the Day. It can contain information such as the system's name, OS version, and other identifying details.

10-help-text: This file provides a brief introduction on how to get help within the system.

50-motd-news: This file might display relevant system news or announcements.

80-esm: This file shows information about Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) if this service is active on the system.

91-release-upgrade: This file could show information about version upgrades and commands for upgrading the system.

Dmitry Fisenko · Answer 8 · 2021-03-17T21:11:44.250

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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

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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?

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