Linux Fundamentals - SSH not ever connecting

Off-topic Programming
#1

Doing Linux Fundamental classes. I’ve ssh’d into instances multiple times in previous modules. It is not letting me connect to the target IP given. Now it’s just not letting me connect…ever. It just sits with a blank cursor and eventually times out. I’ve copied everything in directly so I know it’s not a typo. Yes, I know the format for connecting to ssh…again I have connected previously. I’ve tried on three different instances and re-spawned my IP. Again, I’ve done this before, but now it’s not working.

These things are vague and not fundamental or really helpful to begin with. Worse still when you can’t even start the thing as you have done many times previously. Frustrating as all get out to sit here trying to connect and have my whole lab time be Connection Timed Out.

#2

@ChairmanPaul said:

Doing Linux Fundamental classes. I’ve ssh’d into instances multiple times in previous modules. It is not letting me connect to the target IP given. Now it’s just not letting me connect…ever. It just sits with a blank cursor and eventually times out. I’ve copied everything in directly so I know it’s not a typo. Yes, I know the format for connecting to ssh…again I have connected previously. I’ve tried on three different instances and re-spawned my IP. Again, I’ve done this before, but now it’s not working.

These things are vague and not fundamental or really helpful to begin with. Worse still when you can’t even start the thing as you have done many times previously. Frustrating as all get out to sit here trying to connect and have my whole lab time be Connection Timed Out.

Have you raised a support ticket with HTB to have this fixed?

I get that it can be frustrating but there isn’t even enough information here for people to try and help. As you seem confident you are doing it correctly, I’d suggest the support ticket is the only path - restarting the lab would either work or not work (its built from an image, so several restarts shouldn’t change anything).

#3

Good idea. But I think maybe just not for me here. When I saw they were teaching navigation AFTER things like user management I figure no real thought process has gone into the subjects at all.

The modules look great, gamification on point, nice marketing, etc. But functionality, quality of instruction…just doesn’t match. Maybe put more thought into the design than the content (a common problem) and I guess there’s more value in the higher level modules since so many seem to recommend this site…

#4

@ChairmanPaul said:

Good idea. But I think maybe just not for me here. When I saw they were teaching navigation AFTER things like user management I figure no real thought process has gone into the subjects at all.

The modules look great, gamification on point, nice marketing, etc. But functionality, quality of instruction…just doesn’t match. Maybe put more thought into the design than the content (a common problem) and I guess there’s more value in the higher level modules since so many seem to recommend this site…

I don’t know anything about the academy site really so I can’t comment on its quality or value.

I’d strongly suggest that any feedback like this should go to HTB via Jira or some other platform. The HTB staff very rarely have time to read through forum posts and are almost never going to see messages in threads. There is simply too much traffic for them to be able to monitor it.

However, looking at the traffic there it appears a fair number of people are completing this, so either something is broken on your instance or the approach you are using isn’t correct. Alternatively, a fundamentals module is too fundamental for your ability and you are overthinking the approach.

Regarding the sequence - again, I don’t want to speak for the creators - but I don’t think there is a right or wrong sequence. You cant navigate through the filesystem until you have user accounts, so I can see arguments for and against any decisions here. The real test is not how well someone who already knows their way around Linux enjoys the module, but how well someone who has never touched it learns.

#5

I know the material in the thing, but am a completionist and will use lower level stuff I shoudl be able to go through quickly to judge what other may be like. Because some of the more difficult stuff could be hours or days and I’d hate to waste time with needless bugs and bad usability/overly vague guiding.

And to the sequence they required you to use the nav stuff they “teach” halfway through. So it really makes no sense they bring it back in the middle. If I didn’t come in with Linux knowledge I for sure wouldn’t have made it that far without a TON of help…which they don’t give.

On the plus side the bugs pushed me to a better product :slight_smile:

And I post here because I know others will hit these walls and search and it’s good for them to know their not alone in their frustrations. If I just send a ticket maybe my instance gets fixed but no one else knows this could be a shared struggle. With the amount of spoilers on reddit and other sites I wonder how much “completion” of these is legit and how much is googled answers?

#6

@ChairmanPaul said:

I know the material in the thing, but am a completionist and will use lower level stuff I shoudl be able to go through quickly to judge what other may be like.

The good news is that this has worked. It has allowed you to judge.

On the plus side the bugs pushed me to a better product :slight_smile:

Win-win then.

And I post here because I know others will hit these walls and search and it’s good for them to know their not alone in their frustrations.

That is totally valid and it is quite useful to get broader feedback. My point was more that the ticket is needed if you want anything to change. If you don’t, then that’s fine.

If I just send a ticket maybe my instance gets fixed but no one else knows this could be a shared struggle.

Very true. It depends on how the problem arose and how it got fixed. As I said, I never meant to imply it was “only raise a ticket”, it is just that without a ticket it’s just talking on a forum. That isn’t a bad thing, it just doesn’t change anything.

With the amount of spoilers on reddit and other sites I wonder how much “completion” of these is legit and how much is googled answers?

I am not sure there is a difference in practice. I can learn how SSH works and memorise every switch, or I can use the man pages when I need it, or I can google for examples. I am not convinced any one approach is correct, and it largely depends on how often you do something if it is worth memorising it. I mount filesystems in Linux on a regular basis but I can’t for the life of me remember the correct syntax for each filesystem. I don’t think I am ever going to bother learning it, and I am happy that I have aliases set up on the systems I use most often and can google it if I need to.