SSHD on Windows 2000? Surely you jest!

So I'm at my new job (first job as a sysadmin...I'm so happy) and someone asks me if I can get an SSH server working on their machine. No big deal, right? I mean, everyone's running FreeBSD, right? Wrong: the computer this guy's talking about is running Windows 2000.

But I google, and fuck me if I don't come across instructions for running an OpenSSH server on Cygwin. Now don't get me wrong, I'd tried Cygwin before and had been very, very impressed w/the idea of running VI under W2K. But SSH? Cazart!

The instructions above were almost complete. But we've got a domain going (on Samba, natch), and the guy couldn't touch his files while logged in as Administrator. (I know, I know, shouldn't log in as Admin...but somehow it's hard to see that as being as bad as logging in as root...)

So some more google and came up with this. THe important bit is to change the GECOS field as suggested.

But: but but but: the other important bit is to start with a clean cygwin install. Follow the instructions here if need be. I banged my head against this long and painfully until I got it right.

On another note, I'm a Unix guy and I'm quite happy with that. But I've been thrust into W2K admin, and I find myself uncomforatably ignorant. One of the things I've always loved about Linux, FreeBSD et. al. is the sheer embarrassment of resources for the newbie. Where, o where are an equivalent humiliation of knowledge for Windows newbies? There has to be something out there for the technically proficient yet unfamiliar new guy. Bueller? Bueller?

Original entry.