A secure shell server lets you connect to a system from another
system, via TCP/IP, and obtain a shell prompt, from which you can
issue commands and view output. You may not be familiar with secure
shell servers, but familiar with Telnet, which works similarly. A
secure shell server differs from a Telnet server in that the
conversation between a secure shell server and its clients is sent in
encrypted form so that hackers cannot easily discover private
information, including userids and passwords.
The secure shell client and server cannot be distributed on a CD, because they utilize advanced encryption techniques; U.S. law currently forbids general distribution of such software. The installation script will automatically start the
ssh daemon.
To verify that the server is properly running, you can access it via a client on the local system. Issue the following command:
ssh localhost
The client will attempt to log you onto the local system by using your current userid, and should prompt you for your password. If you supply the correct password, you should see a shell prompt, indicating that the client and server are functioning correctly. Type
exit and press
Enter to exit the secure shell provided by the client.
To log onto your Linux system from a remote system via the secure shell server, you must install a secure shell client on the remote system. A suitable client for Microsoft Windows 9x systems is
ttssh, available from Robert O'Callahan's web site,
https://www.zip.com.au/~roca/ttssh.html. Simply download and install
ttssh on your Windows system, specify the hostname or IP address of your Linux system and your userid and password, and
ttssh will log you onto your Linux system.
