[SOLVED] Getting "Received too large SFTP packet" when logging in with Root using WinSCP to Google Compute Engine virtual machine instance

Getting "Received too large SFTP packet" when logging in with Root using WinSCP to Google Compute Engine virtual machine instance

Hi I can login to the GCE VM with WinSCP using my own username, cannot login as root...this is by default according to Google, and can be changed.

Changed like this:

Step 1: Login SSH and Su Root

# sudo su root

Step 2: Change password Root

#passwd root

Step 3: Config SSHD allow Root login

#nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
PermitRootLogin yes
PasswordAuthentication yes

#service sshd restart (I used ssh as I'm using ubuntu and sshd wouldn't work)

Tried to login as root via WinSCP but I get

"Received too large (1349281121 B) SFTP packet. Max supported packet size is 1024000 B. The error is typically caused by message printed from startup script (like .profile). The message may start with 'Plea'." Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP server?"

Any ideas?

Solution

Hmmm, I added this in WinSCP in advanced settings under "protocol options": sudo /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-servers

I can login with my own username and move files now. Although not exactly sure how this works, I think it somehow changes you to root user at login?

More info: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/faq_su