PuTTY and SSH - Additional Information
What is SSH?
Ssh (Secure Shell) is a program to login to another computer over a network, to execute commands in a remote machine, and to move files from one machine to another. This is also used quite a bit for checking email. It provides strong authentication and secure communications over insecure channels. It is intended as a replacement for rlogin, rsh, rcp, and Telnet.
Why Use SSH?
We recommend that our users use an SSH client opposed to telnetting into our servers to protect you, the user. When using telnet, everything you do is unencrypted including when you send your password to login. This means other people on the network can see what you are doing and read your password. If you use SSH, your password and all activity will be encrypted so others cannot read your password or your data. Preventing people from seeing your passwords will help prevent other people from gaining access to your account.
Where to Download SSH?
In the DECS public labs we use Putty as our SSH client and we recommend this client to our users. This is free to download and is easy to use.
Below is the link where you can download Putty. If you are running any version of Windows you will want to click on the putty.exe link which will begin your download. Follow the instructions we have below to set up Putty. This site also provides documentation on their latest release and other usefull information on Putty and SSH.
How to Download and Configure SSH
- Download putty from the location above. Double-click to run.
- Enter the server you wish to login to and click on the SSH button. Then click Open. (screenshot)
- The first time you attempt to login to a server it will prompt you with a Putty Security Alert window (screenshot) . Click Yes.
- Enter your user name and password just like during a Telnet session and you are all set!
Additional Information
If you would like additional information on SSH, we recommend this site as a good source: