SSH: What and How

SSH is presented as a secure way to reach the terminal of another machine over a network. The article gives a short history of SSH, then walks through basic setup on Mac, Windows, and Linux, along with a simple login to a remote server and the kinds of server tasks that become possible after connecting.

Reading notes

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• SSH is described as using a network connection to get into Terminal on another computer.
• The article says SSH was developed in 1995 as the first secure way to administrate a remote UNIX system.
• It notes that older tools sent passwords in clear text.
• It explains how to check whether SSH is installed with which ssh.
• It assumes OpenSSH and shows a Mac-to-MediaTemple setup.
• It says SSH usually runs over port 22 and suggests nmap to check whether the port is open.
• It shows logging in with ssh root@primarydomain.com for a MediaTemple server.
• It says shared hosting often uses a user account name instead of root.
• It says that after logging in you can run commands, navigate the file system, manage Apache, edit config files, view logs, clear caches, and inspect files on the server.
• It shows how to generate SSH keys, keep them in ~/.ssh, and set permissions with chmod.
• It explains that a public key can be copied to authorized_keys on the server.
• It says known_hosts helps protect against man-in-the-middle attacks.
• It shows adding Host, HostName, and User entries to ~/.ssh/config so you can log in with a short alias.
• It says SSH can be used to host Git repositories on your own server.
• It outlines a workflow where you create a staging branch locally, push it to the server, and merge it there.
• It says SFTP is an encrypted FTP alternative that runs over port 22.
• It says SSH is useful from almost anywhere as long as you have a computer, a terminal, and SSH installed.
• It mentions using SSH locally for file transfer and for repos that enforce a staging process before production.
• It ends with links to the OpenSSH manual and a Linux Journal introduction to SSH.