In preparation for using any 2FA solution, it will most likely need to modify sshd_config, so let's change the file in place instead of overwriting it completely.

roles/common/tasks/security.yml

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
   copy: src=etc_fail2ban_filter.d_dovecot-pop3imap.conf dest=/etc/fail2ban/filter.d/dovecot-pop3imap.conf
   notify: restart fail2ban
 
-- name: Copy sshd_config into place
-  template: src=etc_ssh_sshd_config.j2 dest=/etc/ssh/sshd_config
+- name: Update sshd config to disallow root logins
+  lineinfile: dest=/etc/ssh/sshd_config regexp=^PermitRootLogin line="PermitRootLogin no" state=present
   notify: restart ssh
-

roles/common/templates/etc_ssh_sshd_config.j2

@@ -1,87 +0,0 @@
-# Package generated configuration file
-# See the sshd_config(5) manpage for details
-
-# What ports, IPs and protocols we listen for
-Port 22
-# Use these options to restrict which interfaces/protocols sshd will bind to
-#ListenAddress ::
-#ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
-Protocol 2
-# HostKeys for protocol version 2
-HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
-HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
-HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
-#Privilege Separation is turned on for security
-UsePrivilegeSeparation yes
-
-# Lifetime and size of ephemeral version 1 server key
-KeyRegenerationInterval 3600
-ServerKeyBits 768
-
-# Logging
-SyslogFacility AUTH
-LogLevel INFO
-
-# Authentication:
-LoginGraceTime 120
-PermitRootLogin no
-StrictModes yes
-
-RSAAuthentication yes
-PubkeyAuthentication yes
-#AuthorizedKeysFile	%h/.ssh/authorized_keys
-
-# Don't read the user's ~/.rhosts and ~/.shosts files
-IgnoreRhosts yes
-# For this to work you will also need host keys in /etc/ssh_known_hosts
-RhostsRSAAuthentication no
-# similar for protocol version 2
-HostbasedAuthentication no
-# Uncomment if you don't trust ~/.ssh/known_hosts for RhostsRSAAuthentication
-#IgnoreUserKnownHosts yes
-
-# To enable empty passwords, change to yes (NOT RECOMMENDED)
-PermitEmptyPasswords no
-
-# Change to yes to enable challenge-response passwords (beware issues with
-# some PAM modules and threads)
-ChallengeResponseAuthentication no
-
-# Change to no to disable tunnelled clear text passwords
-PasswordAuthentication no
-
-# Kerberos options
-#KerberosAuthentication no
-#KerberosGetAFSToken no
-#KerberosOrLocalPasswd yes
-#KerberosTicketCleanup yes
-
-# GSSAPI options
-#GSSAPIAuthentication no
-#GSSAPICleanupCredentials yes
-
-X11Forwarding yes
-X11DisplayOffset 10
-PrintMotd no
-PrintLastLog yes
-TCPKeepAlive yes
-#UseLogin no
-
-#MaxStartups 10:30:60
-#Banner /etc/issue.net
-
-# Allow client to pass locale environment variables
-AcceptEnv LANG LC_*
-
-Subsystem sftp /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server
-
-# Set this to 'yes' to enable PAM authentication, account processing,
-# and session processing. If this is enabled, PAM authentication will
-# be allowed through the ChallengeResponseAuthentication and
-# PasswordAuthentication.  Depending on your PAM configuration,
-# PAM authentication via ChallengeResponseAuthentication may bypass
-# the setting of "PermitRootLogin without-password".
-# If you just want the PAM account and session checks to run without
-# PAM authentication, then enable this but set PasswordAuthentication
-# and ChallengeResponseAuthentication to 'no'.
-UsePAM yes