Thanks to Kevin Hilton and Karuna Govind of NZ/UK

How to uninstall/install cygwin under Vista or Windows 7:

Uninstall Steps
(From previous attempted failed installations)
In Administrator shell
1. net stop sshd
2. cygrunsrv -R sshd
3. net user

Delete any user listed like sshd or sshd_server.  
The following syntax is to be used:
  net user sshd /DELETE

4. rm -R /etc/ssh*
5. mkpasswd -cl > /etc/passwd
6. mkgroup --local > /etc/group

In User shell
1. cd ~
2. rm -R .ssh

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Installation Steps (by Kevin Hilton)

In Administrator shell
1. ssh-host-config -y
2. net start sshd

In User shell
1. ssh-user-config (Answer questions as appropriate to your situation)
2. Test connection:
   ssh -vvv localhost
   
Then go to Control Panel ... Windows Firewall, open inbound TCP port 22.
(Thanks to Frank Gerlach of Baden-Wurttemberg of Germany)  


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Installation Steps (by Karuna Govind from NZ/UK)

How to run sshd as an existing user (Cygwin 1.7.1 and Windows 7):

1. Follow Kevin's "Uninstall Steps" if required.

2. Decide on a user account that you want to run the sshd process under. This can Administrator as well except its disabled on Windows 7 by default (it can be enabled by running lusrmgr.msc). For these instructions, lets say you want a user called MyUser to run sshd.

3. Check existing permissions for MyUser (in case you need to rollback):

      	editrights -l -u MyUser 

4. Add additional privileges to allow sshd to run properly:

      	editrights.exe -a SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege -u MyUser 

      	editrights.exe -a SeCreateTokenPrivilege -u MyUser 

      	editrights.exe -a SeTcbPrivilege -u MyUser 

      	editrights.exe -a SeServiceLogonRight -u MyUser 

5. Run ssh-host-config (don't force the -y option)

      	ssh-host-config

6. Answer yes to all questions making sure when it asks "Do you want to use a different name?", say "yes" (this question is different with the -y option)

7. Enter your desired username (MyUser) and password when you are prompted. You should *not* see any warnings. If you do, you might not have set all privileges correctly

8. If all goes well, start sshd:

      net start sshd
          

Disclaimer: 
Do this at your risk. Since your user gets these additional permissions, it may cause a few security issues (I can't see any major issues though). More info: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd277311.aspx



Last updated: 2010-03-30