enable-root-ssh.sh

enable-root-ssh.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -e

# Re-run as root if not already
if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
    echo "[*] Re-running script as root..."
    exec sudo -E bash "$0"
fi

echo "[+] Running as root"

# ---- 1. Set root password ----
echo "[*] Set root password"
passwd root

# ---- 2. Enable root SSH login ----
SSHD_CONFIG="/etc/ssh/sshd_config"

echo "[*] Enabling root SSH access"

# Backup sshd_config if not already backed up
if [[ ! -f "${SSHD_CONFIG}.bak" ]]; then
    cp "$SSHD_CONFIG" "${SSHD_CONFIG}.bak"
    echo "[+] Backup created: ${SSHD_CONFIG}.bak"
fi

# Update or add PermitRootLogin yes
if grep -q "^PermitRootLogin" "$SSHD_CONFIG"; then
    sed -i 's/^PermitRootLogin.*/PermitRootLogin yes/' "$SSHD_CONFIG"
else
    echo "PermitRootLogin yes" >> "$SSHD_CONFIG"
fi

# Ensure password auth is enabled (needed since you're setting a password)
if grep -q "^PasswordAuthentication" "$SSHD_CONFIG"; then
    sed -i 's/^PasswordAuthentication.*/PasswordAuthentication yes/' "$SSHD_CONFIG"
else
    echo "PasswordAuthentication yes" >> "$SSHD_CONFIG"
fi

# ---- 3. Copy SSH keys from ubuntu user ----
UBUNTU_SSH_DIR="/home/ubuntu/.ssh"
ROOT_SSH_DIR="/root/.ssh"

if [[ -f "$UBUNTU_SSH_DIR/authorized_keys" ]]; then
    echo "[*] Copying ubuntu SSH keys to root"

    mkdir -p "$ROOT_SSH_DIR"
    touch "$ROOT_SSH_DIR/authorized_keys"

    cat "$UBUNTU_SSH_DIR/authorized_keys" >> "$ROOT_SSH_DIR/authorized_keys"

    chmod 700 "$ROOT_SSH_DIR"
    chmod 600 "$ROOT_SSH_DIR/authorized_keys"
    chown -R root:root "$ROOT_SSH_DIR"

    echo "[+] SSH keys copied successfully"
else
    echo "[!] No authorized_keys found for ubuntu user, skipping key copy"
fi

# ---- 4. Restart SSH ----
echo "[*] Restarting SSH service"

if systemctl list-units --type=service | grep -q ssh.service; then
    systemctl restart ssh
else
    systemctl restart sshd
fi

echo "[+] SSH restarted successfully"
echo "[✓] Root SSH access is now enabled"