10 Tips to Harden SSH Access on Production Ubuntu Servers
Tecmint, Friday, October 9th, 2026
How to harden SSH on Ubuntu 26.04 with sshd_config drop-ins, UFW and Fail2Ban, including avoiding cloud-init config overrides.
Tecmint's guide to securing SSH on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, with notes for 24.04, starts from the hundreds of failed login attempts any internet-facing server sees in a day.
It explains that sshd loads drop-in files in lexical order and uses the first value found, so a cloud image's 50-cloud-init.conf can silently re-enable password authentication unless a 00-hardening.conf file takes precedence.
The guide then covers disabling password logins, tightening daemon settings and adding UFW and Fail2Ban protections, while keeping an existing session open to avoid lockouts.