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Alright so a friend is having an issue on his SSH login prompt where the username prompt responds instantly (right when you connect VIA ssh), but the password prompt (right after you enter the username) hangs for about 10 or so seconds before appearing. After that the system runs fine.

It used to be running fine (as is the usual scenario), but now, with git pushes and such, it's getting extremely annoying.

What are some things I can take a look at in order to get this resolved?

EDIT: After adding -vv it appears to hang on debug2: key: /home/[removed]/.ssh/id_dsa ((nil))

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2 Answers 2

up vote 2 down vote accepted

One way you can test to see what's happening during your ssh login is to use debug/verbose mode:

ssh -v my.host
ssh -vv my.host

This would show the debug messages that happen as you log in, the second option being more verbose than the first.

(ref http://linux.chrissweeney.co.uk/topic.php?t=21)

Also on the server-side, perhaps check /var/log/auth.log to see if any error is occurring during this process which slows down showing the password field.

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Check original post for -vv hang. Not sure why it would be hanging on that. Also to note, when I did -vv it so happens I was using that particular machine for the first time to connect to the slow ssh host. –  Qix Jan 30 '12 at 7:07
If you want, you can use the -vvvv flag for incredibly more verbose details. According to your -vv edit, it looks like the system is looking for the existence of an authentication key to login with, and for some reason this step is taking a long time. –  invalidsyntax Jan 31 '12 at 14:44

These delays are very frequently caused by DNS issues. Make sure that this server's resolv.conf is configured correctly.

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Even when it's through lan? –  Qix Feb 9 '12 at 10:53
Yes. DNS can still be an issue. –  EEAA Feb 9 '12 at 12:58

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