installing ssh using cygwin for hadoop - windows-7

Question

Before I explain the issue I am having, need to let you know that I am totally new to CYGWIN and stuff like this.
My objective of installing SSH using CYGWIN is to setup Hadoop on windows 7 x64 machine. I am trying to execute the steps given on https://gist.github.com/tariqmislam/2159173. however I am not able to provide a blank password. Below is the log for same. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
$ chmod +r /etc/passwd
$ chmod u+w /etc/passwd
$ chmod +r /etc/group
$ chmod u+w /etc/group
$ chmod 755 /var
$ touch /var/log/sshd.log
$ chmod 664 /var/log/sshd.log
$ ssh-host-config
* Query: Overwrite existing /etc/ssh_config file? (yes/no) yes
* Info: Creating default /etc/ssh_config file
* Query: Overwrite existing /etc/sshd_config file? (yes/no) yes
* Info: Creating default /etc/sshd_config file
* Info: Privilege separation is set to yes by default since OpenSSH 3.3.
Info: However, this requires a non-privileged account called 'sshd'.
Info: For more info on privilege separation read /usr/share/doc/openssh/README.privsep.
Query: Should privilege separation be used? (yes/no) no
** Info: Updating /etc/sshd_config file
* Query: Do you want to install sshd as a service?
Query: (Say "no" if it is already installed as a service) (yes/no) yes
Query: Enter the value of CYGWIN for the daemon: []
Info: On Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and above, the
Info: SYSTEM account cannot setuid to other users -- a capability
Info: sshd requires. You need to have or to create a privileged
** Info: account. This script will help you do so.
* Info: You appear to be running Windows XP 64bit, Windows 2003 Server,
Info: or later. On these systems, it's not possible to use the LocalSystem
Info: account for services that can change the user id without an
Info: explicit password (such as passwordless logins [e.g. public key
** Info: authentication] via sshd).
* Info: If you want to enable that functionality, it's required to create
Info: a new account with special privileges (unless a similar account
Info: already exists). This account is then used to run these special
* Info: servers.
* Info: Note that creating a new user requires that the current account
* Info: have Administrator privileges itself.
* Info: No privileged account could be found.
* Info: This script plans to use 'cyg_server'.
* Info: 'cyg_server' will only be used by registered services.
* Query: Do you want to use a different name? (yes/no) no
* Query: Create new privileged user account 'cyg_server'? (yes/no) yes
* Info: Please enter a password for new user cyg_server. Please be sure
Info: that this password matches the password rules given on your system.
Info: Entering no password will exit the configuration.
Query: Please enter the password:
Query: Please enter the password:
Query: Please enter the password:
** Query: Please enter the password:

Answer 1

I can only recommend running hadoop in a linux virtual machine or native linux. Although successfully running hadoop 0.20.0 on windows xp+cygwin and windows7+cygwin, I once tried setting up a newer version of hadoop on windows7, but failed miserably due to errors in hadoop. IIRC hadoop with the security patch won't even run on windows7 because of problems with file permissons, etc.
So my advice: run hadoop on linux if you can, you'll avoid a serious amount of problems.

Answer 2

I followed steps in the following link and sshd installation and starting as service was working fine for me:
http://cloudcelebrity.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/configure-openssh-host-in-windows-using-cygwin/