sshd_configuration

Maintains ansible/roles/sshd_configuration/. See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the shared conventions (role layout, audit vs. remediate via --check --diff, safety rules, branch + PR contribution workflow).

ansible/roles/sshd_configuration/README.md documents this role's full configuration surface (every defaults/main.yml variable, with its original inline comments, rendered as a single reference). Read it before proposing or explaining how to configure this role — it reflects the role's actual current defaults even if a variable summary elsewhere in this file has drifted out of sync with the role.

Policy & workload awareness

docs/VERTICAL_POLICY.md, docs/HORIZONTAL_POLICY and docs/WORKLOAD.md capture org-wide policy items and the workloads this SOE actually hosts — either can gain a new or changed item that this role should reflect. Before auditing, remediating, or proposing a change, check whether either doc has changed more recently than this role's own code:

git log -1 --format='%cI %h %s' -- docs/VERTICAL_POLICY.md docs/HORIZONTAL_POLICY.md docs/WORKLOAD.md
git log -1 --format='%cI %h %s' -- ansible/roles/sshd_configuration/

If the docs' latest commit is newer than the role's, this role hasn't been re-assessed against current policy/workload — read both files and judge whether anything added or changed since is relevant to this domain:

• Relevant — propose a concrete change on a branch (soe/sshd_configuration/policy-<short-desc> or soe/sshd_configuration/workload-<short-desc>), same branch + PR workflow as any other role change (see "What to do" above and docs/ARCHITECTURE.md's "Contribution workflow"). Don't wait to be asked.
• Not relevant — say so explicitly (e.g. "checked against docs/VERTICAL_POLICY.md, docs/HORIZONTAL_POLICY and docs/WORKLOAD.md as of <date>, nothing affecting this domain") rather than silently skipping the check.

This check is informational, not a gate — it runs alongside a normal audit/remediate, never blocks one; surface the staleness note alongside the normal output.

What the role actually does

Encoded in ansible/roles/sshd_configuration/defaults/main.yml:

• sshd_options (dict, default empty) is enabled/updated; if /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d exists, changes are written exclusively into 0-ansible.conf there rather than editing sshd_config directly. ListenAddress and Match blocks are only supported on RHEL 9+.
• sshd_options_disable (default empty) comments matching options out of every sshd config file found.
• The role refuses to set PermitRootLogin: 'no' when the current connection is root without sudo (SUDO_USER not in the environment) — a built-in guard against locking out the very connection making the change.
• sshd_configuration_config_reset (default false, RHEL 9+ only) resets RPM-provided files to shipped defaults — the role's own note: this can cause idempotency issues combined with sshd_options_disable, and only resets RPM-provided files, not others (suggests files_copy for older RHEL).
• sshd_configuration_exclusive (default false) removes unrecognized files from sshd_config.d, protected by sshd_configuration_files_known (defaults list several ComplianceAsCode/RHEL-provided filenames).
• Every config write is validated with sshd -t -f %s before being applied — same pattern as motd_issue's sshd banner edit noted in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

This role is sourced from the myllynen/rhel-ansible-roles import (see git log -- ansible/roles/sshd_configuration) rather than hand-authored for this repo. Unlike the original reference domains (e.g. timesync, usbguard_setup), it applies state declaratively via standard Ansible modules and does not add its own assert-based drift checks on top — an audit here is exactly what --check --diff reports from the underlying modules, nothing more.

What to do

Audit (read-only, safe to run any time):

ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml --tags sshd_configuration --check --diff

Summarize the diff output and any failed tasks in plain language.

Remediate (modifies the system — only after the user explicitly asks): first summarize what will change from the --check --diff output, then run the same command without --check:

ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml --tags sshd_configuration

Propose a change to the role itself: never edit and commit directly. On a branch named soe/sshd_configuration/<short-desc>, edit ansible/roles/sshd_configuration/, validate locally (--syntax-check, ansible-lint roles/sshd_configuration/, and --check --diff against a real/test host if available), then push and open a PR titled [sshd_configuration] <what changed> with the --check --diff output in the body. Then stop — a human reviews and merges; see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md's "Contribution workflow".

Notes

• This role can lock out remote access if misused despite its guards (e.g. disabling password auth with no key-based access configured yet) — always review the --check --diff output for PermitRootLogin/PasswordAuthentication-type changes with extra care, and confirm out-of-band access exists before remediating a remote-only host.

Wiring into the SOE

This role is in configure_rhel_domains's default value in ansible/configure_rhel.yml (see .claude/skills/configure_rhel/SKILL.md) and has a row in .claude/skills/soe/SKILL.md's domain table, so it runs as part of both ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml --tags sshd_configuration ... and a full, untagged ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml run. This repo no longer uses ansible/site.yml as the baseline entrypoint — see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.