openssh unix dev - Dec 2022 - Is there any way in the ssh config file to shorten the "hostname's password" request?

I have an ssh login on a hosting service where the hostname of the
system I log onto is ridiculously long:-

    qnhjuc5h8w3s at sxb1plzcpnl489538.prod.sxb1.secureserver.net

So when I connect I get a very long "<name>'s password:"
which I find
rather distracting, not to mention that it doesn't really tell me what
I'm logging into.

I know I can set alternative (shorter) host names by using 'Host'
sections in my ssh config file so that I can 'ssh <shorter name> to
connect but is there any way of adding alias 'HostName' entries?

I know I could add shorter names to /etc/hosts but this would only
work where I have root access and is less easy to manage.  I have a
common/shared ssh config file that I use across most of my systems and
thus a change to that would be the nicest way to do it, if it's
possible.

-- 
Chris Green

On Fri, 9 Dec 2022 at 01:23, Chris Green <cl at isbd.net>
wrote:
> So when I connect I get a very long "<name>'s
password:" which I find
> rather distracting, not to mention that it doesn't really tell me what
> I'm logging into.
If it's SSH "password" authentication, ssh(1) will use the
HostKeyAlias (if set) in the prompt:

$ ssh -o hostkeyalias=foobar -o preferredauthentications=password localhost
dtucker at foobar's password:

If it's SSH "keybpoard-interactive" authentication then the prompt
might be generated by PAM, and in that case there's not much ssh can
do with that.

-- 
Darren Tucker (dtucker at dtucker.net)
GPG key 11EAA6FA / A86E 3E07 5B19 5880 E860  37F4 9357 ECEF 11EA A6FA (new)
    Good judgement comes with experience. Unfortunately, the experience
usually comes from bad judgement.