SSH Command line access

From Amen Wiki

[edit] A basic guide to SSH

If you have a Virtual Private Server (aka VDS), or a Dedicated Server with Amen then it is likely that you usually administer it using Plesk which is a web based GUI tool. However a more powerful and alternative method exists via the Linux / Unix command line which can be remotely accessed using SSH. If your server is running a Linux or Unix based operating system you can access, configure and troubleshoot the server by using SSH.

What is SSH?

SSH (Secure Shell) is a protocol for creating a secure connection between two computers.

The secure SSH connection provides authentication and encryption. SSH also provides compression.

SSH was designed as a replacement for the legacy `telnet` application, which offered no encryption.

To use SSH you will need three things.

• A computer with an SSH client installed(*)
• A basic grasp of Command Line know-how
• To read and understand the highlighted paragraph below.

As the systems administrator for your server, you need to understand that any modifications
to the operating system or settings could, if not carefully thought out, render your server
inaccessible or unusable. In a worst case scenario you may need to reinstall the server from
scratch resulting in the loss of all data stored on the server.

(*) For the purpose of this guide we will assume you have a Windows PC, which doesn't have a native SSH Client, in this case you'll need to search online for one of the many available SSH Clients to download and install. For the purposes of this guide though we have chosen a very popular client called PuTTY.

[edit] What is PuTTY and how do I use it?

PuTTY is a client program for the SSH, Telnet and Rlogin network protocols.

In a nutshell you can run PuTTY on a Windows machine it is a standalone executable, and allows you to remotely administer other devices on the internet, for example to a linux server - if it is configured to accept your connection.

You can download and find out more about the PuTTY SSH client at

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

How to establish an SSH session with an Amen virtual private server.

1. Start the Putty client
2. Select the ssh option and ensure the port number is set to 22 (default ssh port)
3. Type in the IP address or the host name (e.g. vds-xxxxxx.amen-pro.com) of your Amen server.
4. This should prompt you for your login username and password.