Installing GBase 8a Cluster with a Non‑Default SSH Port

If your Linux servers use a custom SSH port (e.g., 2222 instead of 22), a standard GBase 8a cluster installation will fail because the installer and internal services cannot reach each other. This guide shows you how to configure user‑level SSH settings and the installer’s sshPort parameter so that your gbase database cluster can be deployed smoothly.

The Problem

After changing the SSHD port, a normal SSH connection is refused:

[root@gbase_rh7_004 ~]# ssh 10.0.2.103
ssh: connect to host 10.0.2.103 port 22: Connection refused

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You have to explicitly pass the port with -p:

[root@gbase_rh7_004 ~]# ssh 10.0.2.103 -p 2222

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During a cluster installation, the coordinator needs to SSH into all data nodes, and the gcware service uses SSH to detect node liveness. If the port isn’t specified globally, the installation fails.

The Fix

1. Set the Default SSH Port at User Level

Create or edit the ~/.ssh/config file for the installation user (e.g., gbase). You can specify the port per host, use wildcards, or list multiple IPs separated by spaces.

[gbase@gbase_rh7_003 ~]$ cat /home/gbase/.ssh/config
Host 10.0.2.103 10.0.2.104
        port 2222

Host 10.0.2.105
        port 22

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After this, ssh 10.0.2.103 automatically uses port 2222 without the -p flag.

2. Add sshPort to the Installation Configuration

In the demo.options file used by the installer, specify the sshPort parameter. This value is written into gcware.conf so that the gcware cluster manager also uses the correct port.

[gbase@gbase_rh7_003 gcinstall]$ cat demo.options
installPrefix= /opt/gbase
coordinateHost = 10.0.2.103,10.0.2.104
coordinateHostNodeID = 234,235,237
dataHost = 10.0.2.103,10.0.2.104
gcwareHost = 10.0.2.103,10.0.2.104
gcwareHostNodeID = 234,235,237
dbaUser = gbase
dbaGroup = gbase
dbaPwd = 'gbase1234'
rootPwd = ''
sshPort = 2222

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Run the installation script. If everything is correct, the cluster starts successfully. The output will show all nodes with OPEN status.

After installation, you can verify that the port was correctly injected into the gcware configuration:

[root@gbase_rh7_003 ~]# grep ssh_port /opt/gbase/10.0.2.103/gcware/config/gcware.conf
    node_ssh_port: 2222

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With these two simple configuration steps, your gbase database cluster can operate perfectly over non‑default SSH ports. This is especially useful in hardened environments where the default SSH port is intentionally changed for security reasons.