You might want to know about … SSH

A number of you have been asking questions about running on your Reclaim server directly. The tool you need for that is SSH, or Secure Shell. I used to have a great SSH tip sheet but it has been removed from the internet. We can talk about that later. In the meantime, I cobbled together a not-half-bad recap of my original tip sheet.

If you’re running Mac OSX or Linux, your machine has an SSH client built right in. Try it: type which ssh at the command line. Windows users will need to install puTTY.

To open a shell connection to another machine, you need to know that machine’s name (which you already know if you’re using SFTP to connect) and you need a username and password. Connect with:

ssh username@example.domain.com

It’s actually that simple. You’ll be prompted for your password, you’ll enter it, and your command prompt will change to reflect the fact that you’re now running commands on a remote machine.

Later, we’ll talk a little bit about key-based authentication, which is a much more secure way to authenticate your SSH session. But for now, passwords are just fine.

2 thoughts on “You might want to know about … SSH

  1. Stephen Real

    I found the answer. There is a folder called .ssh with a file called authorized_keys. You add your public key to the bottom of that file.

    Also a tip. On a Mac, you can disconnect from the server in ssh, by pressing three keys in sequence: Enter ~ .

    That’s the enter key, tilde and period.

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