SSH For Unix and Mac OS X

SSH for Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X platforms

All Unix and Linux variants, as well as Mac OS X, include SSH by default, making it very convenient to use.

Using SSH

SSH is very similar to telnet in operation. For demonstration purposes, we'll use two computers, near and far. Near is the computer whose keyboard you are currently using. Far is the remote computer you wish to log in to.

Begin by connecting to far:

ssh far.uiuc.edu

The first time you connect, your SSH client will check a local file for far. If it doesn't find an entry, SSH will ask if you really want to connect. You must type yes or SSH will break the connection. Continuing with the connection will create an entry for far and it won't bother you again unless far's encryption key changes (which usually means the computer has been reinstalled or your connection is being intercepted).

Note that SSH attempts to connect with your current username. If your username on far is different than your username on near, you'll need to use the a slightly different command. For example, if your username is this on near and that on far, you would type:

Once you've logged in, everything command you type in the SSH window will be executed on far. This makes SSH ideal for things like checking your mail or performing system maintenance tasks, but not so good for file transfer. If you need to transfer files from one computer to another, use SCP and SFTP.