====== Report on Issues Before Logging In ======

It is sometimes necessary to report to users that there are upcoming changes/issues/etc to a server before they login to a machine.  To do this:

  * SSH into machine as admin
<code>ssh admin@1.2.3.4</code>
  * Change to root user
<code>
admin$ sudo su
# be sure to enter in the password for the admin user, not the root password
</code>
  * Create a file called "issues" in the etc directory
<code>
admin$ touch /etc/issues
admin$ chmod 644 /etc/issues
</code>
  * Allow the ssh daemon to access the banner
    - edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    - find the line that begins with <code>#Banner</code>
    - remove the # comment marker
    - save the file and exit
  * Restart the SSH daemon
<code>svcadm restart ssh</code>

Upon login, the banner will be presented before the user has entered their password.