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If you are a student registered for a CS course, and have never had a Unix account on the CS Dept system, you can get your account by going to the CS Dept home page and clicking on the “Account Creation” link (under “Online Services” ).
If you have had an account in the recent past, it should be regenerated for you in any semester when you are registered for a CS course. Otherwise, you will need to contact your instructor or from the CS systems staff to get your account.
“ssh” (secure shell) is an internet protocol that allows a person connected to the internet to log into other machines on the internet and to issue commands to those machines. To use ssh, you must have an “ssh client” program on the machine where you are seated, and you must know the name of a machine elsewhere that is running a “ssh server” , the program that accepts logins and subsequent commands from the client. 4
This is a very common pattern when working over networks. Server programs on one machine offer a service, that client programs, usually on different machines, can request. Each different kind of service requires a differnet server & client program. ssh provides text and command services. We will later see other client-server arrangements for file transfer, email, and graphics display.
To choose an ssh server in our Dept., select a machine from this list at http://system.cs.odu.edu/?page=faq&id=fastmachines.
Next, you need to run an ssh client program. If you are on your own PC, you can choose the client program to install and run. If you are on a lab PC, at work, or for some other reason using someone else's machine, you either need to use whatever they have installed or bring your own client program, probably on a USB flash drive.
From your own Windows PC: Install PuTTY. Then proceed to Connecting via PuTTY.
From Windows PCs in CS Dept Labs: Most, if not all, will have PuTTY. Run it and proceed to Connecting via PuTTY. In some cases, you may find OpenSSH instead.
From Windows PCs in the ODU OCCS Labs: As of May 2008, OCCS machines do not have an ssh client installed. This will probably change soon. In the meantime, install Portable PuTTY on a USB flashdrive and proceed to Connecting via PuTTY.
From Linux PCs or Windows PCs with CygWin (and probably for Apple machines running OS/X): These machines will have (or, in the case of CygWin, can easily have installed) a command-line ssh program. Proceed to Connecting via SSH Command Line.
Run the PuTTY program. You will be presented
with a session dialog box like the one shown here. For the "Host Name", fill in the name of the ssh server machine that you chose earlier. For the "Connection Type", make sure that "SSH" is selected. Then click "Open".
The first time you connect to any machine, you will get a rather intimidating warning that "The server's host key is not cached in the registry" followed by a lot of details that uniquely identify the machine you are connecting to. This is a way ssh tries to protect you against people trying to capture your login info by "spoofing" or impersonating a legitimate machine. In practice, you're not likely to know whether this info is correct or not, so click "Yes" to proceed with the connection.
If you get a similar message later when reconnecting to a machine you have previously used, that might be suspicious (or it may just mean that the original machine crashed and has been replaced by a different one that was given the same name on the network.
You should now be prompted for your login name. You are ready to log in.
Open a terminal window (or a CygWin command window).
Give the command
If you are running a Linux or OS/X machine, you might want to try a variation on that command:
The first time you connect to any machine, you will get a rather intimidating warning such as "The authenticity of host ... can't be established" followed by a lot of details that uniquely identify the machine you are connecting to. This is a way ssh tries to protect you against people trying to capture your login info by "spoofing" or impersonating a legitimate machine. In practice, you're not likely to know whether this info is correct or not, so click "Yes" to proceed with the connection.
If you get a similar message later when reconnecting to a machine you have previously used, that might be suspicious (or it may just mean that the original machine crashed and has been replaced by a different one that was given the same name on the network.
You should now be prompted for your login name. You are ready to log in.
This is a very common pattern when working over networks. Server programs on one machine offer a service, that client programs, usually on different machines, can request. Each different kind of service requires a differnet server & client program. ssh provides text and command services. We will later see other client-server arrangements for file transfer, email, and graphics display.
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