Can I tell Rsync to wait longer for a password when connecting to a remote system?

[1fallen2]

But does anyone out there know what I need to do to fix a "Permission denied" error?
Alternatively, does anyone know how I can extend the ssh login time to something like...two hours? Either of those will easily answer my question.

I'll give it my best shot, I too ran into this about 8 months ago on 24.04 Devel.
I first checked in

ls -l .ssh

The private key should have read and write permissions only for the user and no other permissions for the group and others. Mine did not.
My fix was:

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Also the public key shouldn’t have write and execute permissions for group and others. So My change:

chmod 644 ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Now that I have the correct permissions, I can connect to ssh again. At this time, "it will ask your admin password" to unlock the keys.

EDIT: Going through my notes, it wouldn't hurt to check your /home permissions as well mine were changed to "777" and that's No Good.

stat /home/$USER
  File: /home/me
  Size: 82            Blocks: 66         IO Block: 16384  directory
Device: 0,56    Inode: 2           Links: 33
Access: (0750/drwxr-x---)  Uid: ( 1000/      me)   Gid: ( 1000/      me)
Access: 2024-09-06 11:34:07.682570266 -0600
Modify: 2024-09-06 11:34:07.410573686 -0600
Change: 2024-09-06 11:34:07.410573686 -0600
 Birth: 2024-07-16 18:03:58.252613387 -0600

stat .ssh
  File: .ssh
  Size: 3             Blocks: 2          IO Block: 512    directory
Device: 0,56    Inode: 128         Links: 2
Access: (0700/drwx------)  Uid: ( 1000/      me)   Gid: ( 1000/      me)
Access: 2024-09-06 11:37:55.975362466 -0600
Modify: 2024-07-16 18:04:11.492446940 -0600
Change: 2024-07-26 10:21:32.447868621 -0600
 Birth: 2024-07-16 18:04:11.491446952 -0600

[TheFu]

You are correct. I know of no way to solve the issue reported initially. The solution to that is to use ssh keys so you are never prompted for a password for this specific task. Everything after that is an "implementation detail" for your specific situation.

I understand why you can feel like I'm offering a Lamborghini. You have a broken scooter with a key. What we initially suggested was a scooter with keyless start. In thinking through that solution, other details (user1/user2) were offered which made it a two scooter with keyless starting problem. Soon, other details were offered which pointed out that using 1-user backup solutions would be less great to using a system-wide backup solution. It is still a scooter, just with n+1 seats. Heck, even my backups aren't a Lamborghini. I use only F/LOSS tools. If I had a Lamborghini, I'd be using an expensive, commercial, backup tool like Netbackup (is that even sold anymore?).

The 2-seat, keyless start for rsync is adding more and more complexities. I get that you don't feel like 2-seats are needed, but they are to address the permissions problem, IMHO. At restore time, there will be problems with the method being used. At least I think there will. I ran into similar issues 20+ yrs ago when I used rsync for backups too.

I'll leave it to others to try to explain things differently. Hopefully they will be clearer than I. Obviously, it is my failure. Sorry.

[Doug S]

Alternatively, does anyone know how I can extend the ssh login time to something like...two hours? Either of those will easily answer my question.

??? I did in earlier replies. I also tested it and it worked fine. I tested having rsync waiting for about 11 hours when I had a 1 day timeout set. See my earlier post.

[goemonburo]

Thank you @TheFu, this post (above) made me chuckle. Yes. It's more than just a scooter. #facepalm.

Thank you for your help and your humor. Nobody has failed; no apologies needed. I really genuinely appreciate the help and you kindly did what you could.

[goemonburo]

@Doug S, I have no idea how I missed this, I am so sorry. Let me try this and get back to you. Thank you for posting!! This is probably exactly what I need. (Though I now need to figure out how to revoke the passwordless login....or to force a password in this case....)

[goemonburo]

Hey guys, I have to BEG for help here, as I've now left the country and it appears something in the setup for the above has now turned OFF any kind of password-enter option for SSH. I'm unable to connect via my computer OR phone, as they don't have keys and it seems to just accept keys now. There's no 2nd option or backup that prompts for a password. I will keep going with his when I get back from my business trip but could someone tell me if a) I can pass a key pair to the system remotely at this point (being totally, apparently, locked out) or alternatively, can I possibly rename the .ssh file as .ssh-old by getting a buddy to go to my house, sit at the actual machine, and dutifully copy the ssh terminal commands that will let him do that so I can return to a password-entry option while abroad?

I didn't realize that what I was doing was setting my system up to ONLY accept keys.

Any help greatly appreciated, as I need to access this computer via a ssh tunnel and am thus far unable to do so.

Thank you in advance!!

[aljames2]

It sounds like you are now asking about opening up your SSH to the internet. In my opinion, Key based authentication is a must for this use. I mean, it is possible to open up your SSH to the Internet, using password only access, but not usually recommended.

The authentication method you choose is defined in the sshd_config on the server. This is set up & tested before you leave home.

To be honest, I thought we were talking about rsync & SSH timeout. A user provided you a solution to extend that time out, but you haven’t reported on that.

You can turn off key based auth in the sshd_config file on the server, and you can turn on password authentication in that same file. If key based authentication is turned off, then SSH will not look for keys. Furthermore, if password auth is turned on, then SSH will ask for & look for the password used to authenticate the first time between these hosts.

There are lots of examples you can find online how to configure your sshd_config file within the context of the type of SSH session you are requesting. I use a VPN for remote access from the Internet, but I know a lot of folks do use SSH tunneling, but my guess is 99% of them use key based authentication.