Change Default SSHD Port Number In Mac OS X

I wanted to configure a sshd on my home Mac recently to be able to access it remotely and decided to follow best practice and change port from default value 22/tcp, which is quite an easy task to do on any *nix system.

It turned out that Apple changed service startup process in Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) to what is called launchd. So you may guess that changing port number in /etc/sshd_config didn't help and there was no /etc/inetd.conf or xinetd equivalent. At this point it became more interesting.

Finally I've come to the following procedure:

• Add a new service to the /etc/services file. I've called it ssh-NNNN, where NNNN is desired port number (this name is not a requirement and is only for clarity). So I've got a new line like:
  

  ssh-NNNN NNNN/tcp

  in /etc/services.

• Find a file named ssh.plist in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons. In this file find the following text:
  

  <key>SockServiceName</key>
  <string>ssh</string>

  and change ssh to a new service name ssh-NNNN.

• That's it. Now just start or restart SSH service from the System Preferences. Also, don't forget to open required port on the firewall (I leave this up to you)!