How to remove the hostname from telnet-server prompt in RHEL 6 prior to logging in
Environment
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6
- telnet-server
- util-linux-ng
Issue
- Login using
telnet
is displayinghostname
- How can I remove the
hostname
from thetelnet
prompt and make it only show
login:
instead of
hostname login:
Resolution
As noted below, telnet-server
should be discontinued in favour of more secure mechanisms. However, the following procedure can be used to omit the hostname
in login prompt.
Update to util-linux-ng-2.17.2-12.28.el6_9.2
released with Advisory RHBA-2018:0175 or newer.
Add a configuration line
LOGIN_PLAIN_PROMPT yes
to /etc/login.defs
configuration file.
Root Cause
Warning: The telnet-server
package is inherently insecure and should not be used in any environment that has any expectation of security. All data transferred from client to server is transmitted in plaintext. It should not be used in favour of more secure mechanisms such as ssh
.
Prior to this update, the system login prompt always included the host name when connecting over the telnet
protocol. Consequently, if the screen was too small, a part of the prompt extended beyond the edge of the screen. This update introduces a new option in the /etc/login.defs
configuration file to change the login prompt and hide the host name. As a result, users are able to see their login information even on small screens.
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