Synopsis:
Secure Shell (SSH): Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Solution:
SSH is an Internet protocol that is used to connect to a remote system. To SSH is to establish a command line session with a remote computer, such as the arizona and the hats Unix clusters at Princeton. Most operating systems such as Mac OS X and Unix come with a built-in program that uses this protocol.

SSH clients support terminal sessions and file transfer sessions. The primary advantage of the SSH protocol is that all communications are encrypted, including your password). Other advantages of SSH include instant validation (as opposed to having to type in your netID and password every time) and port forwarding.

You can only open terminal sessions with OIT-managed servers with SSH or Secure FTP.

Important Note
New Unix accounts (Undergraduate accounts excepted) are set up with a default Unix shell of /bin/nologin that prohibits login access. If you wish to use SSH or Secure FTP to connect to your Unix account, simply change this option by using the Enable Unix Account page.

Mac OS X computers
Mac OS X has a built-in SSH client. To connect to your Unix account, use the Terminal utility and type the following:

ssh netID@arizona.princeton.edu

Unix computers
To connect to your Unix account, type the following:

ssh netID@arizona.princeton.edu

Windows Computers
To download and install an SSH client to your computer, please see Solution 4104. To troubleshoot Host Key error messages, please see Solution 9516

Related Links:

• For detailed information about using Pine, see Solution 4930.