pair Networks - World Class Web Hosting - The Basics

The Basics - Connecting with SSH

What is SSH?

SSH is a terminal program that allows you to work on a machine other than your own that utilizes encryption to ensure that your password and all data sent and received during your session are kept safe. Both SSH 1 and 2 are supported.

Please note that if you have our FTP Account, you may access the server only through FTP. SSH will not work for your account.

How do I get an SSH program?

There are plenty of good SSH programs out there and some of them free.

For Windows, we recommend:

PuTTY (Free)
SecureCRT

For Mac, we recommend:

Mac OS X Terminal (Free with Mac OS X operating system)
Fugu (Free Graphical SSH Application)

Still looking? Try this page:

http://www.employees.org/~satch/ssh/faq/ssh-faq-2.html#ss2.2

How do I use my SSH program to connect to the server?

You'll first need to know the name of the server your account is on. A list of servers can be found on the server details page If you don't know which server your account is on, please e-mail support@pair.com.

Once you open your SSH program, you should find a menu option like "Connect", "Open Connection," or something similar. Select that and type in your server name. If it asks for a terminal type, use "VT100."

Next, you'll be prompted for your username and password. Once you correctly entered them, you'll be logged into the system.

If you're using SSH, and you're required to do some additional configuration, use these settings:

Port: 22
Cipher: 3DES
Authentication: Password

Here is an example configuration with SecureCRT's connection dialog box:

If you are using a command-line style operating system like UNIX, or if you're using the Mac OS X Terminal, you would type:

ssh servername.pair.com

Replace "servername" with the name of the server your account is on.

How do I connect to the server via SSH (Secure Shell) using MAC OS X Tiger?

It is simple to connect to your Web server via a terminal window in MAC OS X Tiger by following the steps below:

Open a terminal window (found in the Utilities directory).
Enter ssh username@XXX.pair.com. You must replace "username" with your pair Networks username and replace "XXX" with your server name.
Enter your pair Networks password.

What commands can I use?

Now that you are logged on, you can use any of the UNIX commands to do what you need to do. (Please keep in mind that FTP level accounts do not come with SSH access; if you have an FTP account and you connect, after changing the password you will be disconnected.) If you are unfamiliar with UNIX, try visiting this UNIX Beginners Guide.

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