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Secure Shell (SSH)
Service
pg. 3
Although many of the administrative features for
your virtual server are available through VAdmin Suite, there are some advanced
features and custom settings that require you to send Unix commands to your
virtual server through a client program.
Your virtual server is equipped with a utility called SSH (Secure Shell), which
provides a much higher level of security for communication. SSH implements
strong cryptographic algorithms to encrypt your communication with your virtual
server, preventing malicious users on the Internet from being able to read the
data being passed between you and your virtual server.
Please note that Telnet sessions
pass information in plain text and are therefore not considered
to be secure. Telnet has been disabled. Use of the SSH protocol
as described in the next section is recommended.
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Connecting to Your virtual server
with SSH
Please note that your local
cryptography restrictions may prevent you from using SSH. RSH
Web Services is not responsible for any unauthorized use of
cryptographic tools or algorithms.
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To administer your Virtual Server effectively,
you first need to know about SSH.
SSH is a service that allows you to securely send commands to your Virtual
Server from your keyboard through an SSH client. There are several SSH clients
available.
For Windows users, we suggest the SecureCRT
client from Van Dyke Technologies. SecureCRT includes a fully functional, 30-day
evaluation license, as well as detailed instructions for using it. You can
download a copy of SecureCRT by visiting
http://www.vandyke.com/products/
SecureCRT is already equipped with SSH. To use
it, however, you must select "ssh" as the protocol in your session
configurations; otherwise, the client will default to Telnet and your session
will not be secure. Both the SSH version 1 and 2 protocols are provided by your
virtual server, but if you use SSH 2, select "Standard" server, not DataFellows.
For MacOS users, we suggest F-Secure SSH. You can
obtain F-Secure SSH at
http://www.f-secure.com/download-purchase/
Due to strong cryptographic export restrictions,
you cannot download SecureCRT or F-Secure SSH if you are located in a country
that is subject to current United States trade sanctions. If you need to obtain
an SSH client and cannot obtain one of these suggested clients for this reason,
there are a number of free and unrestricted clients available for download from
sites outside of the United States, including the following:
Windows clients:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty.html
MacOS clients:
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~jonasw/freeware/niftyssh/
To connect to your Virtual Server through SSH,
run your SSH program and configure it using the instructions or help file that
comes with it. To connect successfully, you will be required to enter a domain
name or IP address to connect to. This is often referred to as the 'hostname'.
You will also need your username and password. All of this information should
have been sent to you via email when your Virtual Server order was processed. If
you have not received any of the above information, please contact Support.
Quite often, your Virtual Server will be set up a couple of days before the
domain name registration process is complete. Because of this, you may need to
connect to the IP address assigned to your Virtual Server for the first few days
after your Virtual Server is set up, while you wait for your domain name to be
fully processed.
Logging In
There is no better way to get to know your
Virtual Server than by connecting and taking a quick tour. Start up your SSH
client and establish a connection to your Virtual Server. Once a successful
connection is established, you will receive a login prompt.
After a brief welcome message, you should now see
a line that looks something like this:
domain: {1} %
The domain should be your Virtual Server’s domain
name without the extension. This line is called a prompt or a command line, and
it lets you know that your server is waiting for you to tell it what you want it
to do. If you have made it this far, congratulations! You have successfully
established your first SSH session with your new Virtual Server.
If you have any difficulty using this service,
please contact our Technical Support team.
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