I used the Google authenticator for quite some time now and i must say i like it. As showed in my  earlier article on how to install the Google authenticator app it is pretty straightforward to install the second authentication factor.

But is it also easy to uninstall the feature? Yes it is.

Step 1:

Make sure -in case something goes wrong- that you (temporarily) have alternative ways to access your server. Think of console access or even (watch carefully) telnet access.

Step 2:

Disable ChallengeResponseAuthentication within your SSH configuration:

user@server:~$ vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Change the value from yes to no

ChallengeResponseAuthentication no

Save the changes.

Step 3:

Change your /etc/pam.d/ssh configuration:

user@server:~$ vi /etc/pam.d/sshd

Remove or comment-out the following line:

auth required pam_google_authenticator.so

Save the changes.

Step 4:

Remove the .google_authenticator file from each of the home directories of users that you used the Google authenticator app for.

user@server:~$ rm .google_authenticator

Step 5:

Restart the SSH daemon.

user@server:~$ sudo /etc/ssh/ssh restart

That should be it!