To get the server working again I reinstalled the previous version of openssh and the service came up without complaint. cd /tmp; rpm -i openssh-4.3p2-41.el5.i386.rpm --force --nodeps cd /tmp; rpm -iv openssh-server-4.3p2-41.el5.i386.rpm --force --nodeps cd /tmp; rpm -iv openssh-clients-4.3p2-41.el5.i386.rpm --force --nodeps cd /tmp; rpm -iv openssh-askpass-4.3p2-41.el5.i386.rpm --force --nodeps Lacking a session terminal window on that sever I used the command shell module of webmin to execute these commands after using its upload and download module to obtain the rpms from http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.5/os/i386/CentOS/ I tried to report this problem to CentOS as a bug but the bug reporting service did not recognize my user id and password, notwithstanding I was logged into centos.org itself at the time. -- *** E-Mail is NOT a SECURE channel *** James B. Byrne mailto:ByrneJB at Harte-Lyne.ca Harte & Lyne Limited http://www.harte-lyne.ca 9 Brockley Drive vox: +1 905 561 1241 Hamilton, Ontario fax: +1 905 561 0757 Canada L8E 3C3 -- *** E-Mail is NOT a SECURE channel *** James B. Byrne mailto:ByrneJB at Harte-Lyne.ca Harte & Lyne Limited http://www.harte-lyne.ca 9 Brockley Drive vox: +1 905 561 1241 Hamilton, Ontario fax: +1 905 561 0757 Canada L8E 3C3