Unfortunately my question has still not been answered. 1. What's the information in /usr/share/doc/openssh-server that is so enlightening? I don't have access to a debian machine right now so would be nice to know. Tried downloading from http://packages.debian.org/etch/openssh-server to no avail. It's not quite obvious how one can read the documentation captured in individual text files distributed with packages online.
2. No, I do not try to login as root. I allowed only one user to login to the openssh daemon and am trying to use the same one now. 3. Testing to see if you can still get on to a server is exactly what I would have done, if my connection had not been killed by the server itself a few seconds after upgrading the packages. This happened on two servers running different versions of debian (etch & lenny). 4. So I did get bitten by "this" - whatever that is. Now how do I fix it? I have employed local staff to relax the restrictions of sshd_config and restart the daemon, with absolutely no change in behavior. I do not understand: a) How/why were my active connections to the server killed right after upgrading and b) Why I am not allowed access now that I try to utilise the simplest of all, keyboard interactive authentication. I'd suspect breakage between the new openssh daemon and the authentication mechanisms (PAM, GSSAPI, you-name-it), but on two different distributions simultaneously? I'd appreciate any helpful comment both for my case and for the benefit of anyone else who gets "bit" by what has historically been a quite safe and painless procedure: updating a Debian system. Thanks -A -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]