Secure Shell Information


SSH (Secure Shell) Information




Secure Shell Info

TELNET and FTP are being turned off for outside access into the CS servers (Note that Telnet and FTP still work within the CS network). SSH and its variants are much more powerful and secure than TELNET or FTP. SSH is a new method of communications over the Internet that encrypts data end-to-end. You must have a valid ISP (Cablemodem, DSL, or dialup) to use the SSH tools. A good site to start with is www.openssh.org

There are three common subcomponents of the ssh protocols: ssh : a telnet replacement (and more), scp: a file copy program like UNIX rcp, and sftp : a secure FTP program. Not all servers support all three subcomponents. Here is a list of our main servers and what protocols they support for incoming connections:
Student Servers:

sisko.cs.wichita.edu : (Debian 3.1) ssh, scp, sftp
kira.cs.wichita.edu : (Debian 3.1) ssh, scp, sftp
spock.cs.wichita.edu : (Debian 3.1) ssh, scp, sftp
kirk.cs.wichita.edu : (Debian 3.1) ssh, scp, sftp
emcity.cs.wichita.edu : (Sun/Solaris) ssh, scp, sftp


Faculty Servers:
bugs.cs.wichita.edu : (Debian 3.1) ssh, scp, sftp
roger.cs.wichita.edu : (Debian 3.1) ssh, scp, sftp

LINUX Home Users:

If you are a home LINUX user, you probably already have SSH on your machine. Most LINUX distributions come with SSH, so you only need to install it to make it work. You only need the SSH client. The server is unnecessary, unless you wish to connect back to your home machine via the Internet using SSH.

You can use the command:

ssh -l my-CS-username CS-server-name

to connect to a CS server. If you are using Xwindows, you can add the "-X" flag to connect to our systems. SSH will then carry Xwindows traffic over the Internet, so you can use remote Xwindows programs here at WSU and display on your home machine, such as appletviewer and xterm. This program and its cousins scp and sftp are very nice and make using the Internet more secure.



For Windows Users:

The best program I have found for this use is called PuTTY for Windows. To find out more about SSH and PuTTY, goto www.google.com and search for ssh and putty .

You can use PuTTY under the Windows GUI. PuTTY will ask you the name of the machine to which you wish to connect. You can enter any CS login server for this prompt (example: sisko.cs.wichita.edu). Your machine and ours will negotiate key information and then you will get a login prompt, just like telnet. Be sure to select the SSH button for the protocol, because PuTTY might use telnet otherwise.

The best program I have seen for Secure File Transfer is called WinSCP. Goto www.google.com and type in winscp and ssh . This is a GUI program that runs under Windows that makes file transfers easy. WinSCP uses the scp protocol, which is supported by all of our servers.

The two most common problems I see asked about SSH and WinSCP are:
  1. Not typing in the full server name using (Please use (for example) sisko.cs.wichita.edu (correct) vs. sisko ( wrong) .)
  2. Not using Port 22 (the SSH port) on PuTTY, which sometimes uses Port 23 by default.
If you have any problems with it, please let me know at wallis@cs.wichita.edu



For MacIntosh Users:

If you are running OS X Macintosh software, I have been advised that it comes with SSH capability. If you are running a MACOS based system, you might try: NiftyTelnet 1.1 SSH r3 http://www.lysator.liu.se/~jonasw/freeware/niftyssh/

one of our Mac Users recommended this package.