remote SSH root login with Ubuntu 12.04

Question

I'm pretty much a novice with Ubuntu, still exploring.

I have a VPS server. I was able to set-up two PPTP VPNs with Ubuntu 11.04 but now I'd like to try my hand at an IPSEC/L2TP connection. However, logging into the server is an issue.

With Ubuntu 11.04, in terminal, I do: ssh root@IPADDRESS and enter the password. Voila.

BUT with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, I cannot. It does not work. I set the root password with the VPS control panel so it should be working... any help? This is what I'm trying to get to: https://raymii.org/s/tutorials/IPSEC_L2TP_vpn_with_Ubuntu_12.04.html

Solution

Does your Ubuntu 12.04 box allow the root account login via ssh? By default, Ubuntu doesn't allow the root account to do ssh.

Enabling the root account to access ssh directly is a major security risk. However, you can enable it if you like to do so by doing the steps below:

1. Edit the sshd_config file by sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

2. Find the line PermitRootLogin no and change it to PermitRootLogin yes.

3. Restart the ssh service by sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart or sudo service ssh restart

You have now enabled ssh using the root account.