By “server” we mean the machine you will be connecting to. Simply make sure that the openssh-server package is installed, and that the sshd service is running^[31].

The basic SSH server setup allows users to access (or “ssh into”) a machine, provided they have an account on it. If you want to restrict SSH access to a given list of users, edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file and add or modify a line to look like the following:

AllowUsers queen peter@192.168.0.*

The above example will only allow users queen and peter to connect through SSH into the machine; peter will only be allowed access from a machine in the 192.168.0. (local) network.

Users will have to connect with their normal accounts and then use the su command to become root. To allow users to connect as root directly through SSH, change the line PermitRootLogin no to PermitRootLogin yes. Please bear in mind that this setting, though convenient, is not very secure.

Please refer to sshd(8) and sshd_config(5) for more information on SSH server options and setup.