> If I give the halt command on a remote box while connected through a ssh > client the ssh client hangs.
This smells like an improper shutdown of the remote, which should reset the tcp connection when the ssh daemon gets killed. I'm guessing at some possibilities: The tcp stack gets shut down before the reset packet goes out. The remote is overloaded, and there isn't enough cpu time for the ssh daemon to generate a connection reset from the sigterm before it gets a sigkill. Try diddling the system init scripts and increase that delay. Only an issue on rather slow machines. Either remote or local ssh softwares are buggy. As a workaround, like you can interrupt a telnet client with ^], you can interrupt an ssh client with ~.<return> (but it only works after a <return>, or at the beginning of a line). HTH, Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.