enable ssh on mac os x

SSH access by users is controlled by the local copy of Directory Services. (Controlled using dscl)

First off run dscl . list /Groups | grep 'access_ssh'. If the returned value says com.apple.access_ssh-disabled then all users have SSH access. If not, then we need to give the user access.

To add the user you need to run:

sudo dscl . append /Groups/com.apple.access_ssh user USERNAME

(replace USERNAME with the short username of the user) as well as:

sudo dscl . append /Groups/com.apple.access_ssh groupmembers `dscl . read /Users/USERNAME GeneratedUID | cut -d " " -f 2`

(replace USERNAME with short username as well)

taken from:

http://superuser.com/questions/166179/how-to-enable-remote-access-for-another-account-on-mac-remotely-via-ssh