Online Manual

SSH/Telnet Access
Chapter 4

ExpertInternetServices.com offers the secure form of telnet known as SSH for most of it's hosting packages. This allows us to provide extra security to our web servers, which in turn provides our clients with the best possible performance. Please check here to see if your package allows for this secure method of telnet access.

In order for us to authorize SSH access for your account you will have to email a scan of a written and signed request together with an official picture id of the account owner as well as any users that will be accessing your account. This allows us to provide extra security to our web servers, which in turn provides our clients with the best possible performance. The email address is "sshaccess@eiswebhost.com"

Before SSH can be used please make sure that either a RSA Key has been created or a Class B IP or Class C IP has been entered through your WebSite Manager. Click here if you need to complete these steps.

You may download SSH software at:

FREE:

COMMERCIAL:

  1. SecureCRT. Availible at vandyke.com (Windows 95/98/NT, Macintosh, Unix) - RECOMMENDED (There is a 30 day free trial available for this product.)
  2. F-Secure. Availible at datafellows.com (Windows 95/98/NT)

There are many other sources for SSH telnet software and any will work.


Secure Shell (SSH) Overview

What is Secure Shell (SSH)?

When you SSH to your domain, you are controlling it, using the operating system of the server. Any commands you enter are run on the server (not your local PC) and operate according to the command parameters on the server.

Secure Shell (SSH) provides a command line interface that lets you run commands to modify the contents of your web site It encrypts all the data sent and received, providing a high level of security.

 


Using UNIX

The following is a list of UNIX commands that we found helpful when modifying web sites on the server. Most UNIX commands have many options and parameters which are not listed here. For more complete information on using UNIX commands, you can refer to the online manual by typing man [command] at the UNIX prompt, where "[command]" represents the command you would like more information about. Other UNIX help commands you can type are [command] -? and [command] --help.

Note: When something is specified in brackets, such as [command] or [filename], it is used to indicate that you must input your desired information here. Do NOT include brackets in your command.

Note 2 : Only use lower-case letters. UNIX is case sensitive.

 

Navigating in UNIX

pwd Shows the full path of the current directory
ls Lists all the files in the current directory
ls -al Lists all files and information
ls –alr Lists all files and information in all sub-directories
ls -alr | more Same as ls –alr, pausing when screen becomes full
ls -alr > filename.txt Same as ls –alr, outputs the results to a file
ls -al /home/usr/bob/ Lists files and information for /home/usr/bob
ls *.html Lists all files ending with .html
cd [directory name] Changes to a new directory
cd .. Changes to directory above current one

Moving, Copying and Deleting Files

mv [old filename] [new filename] Move/rename a file
cp [filename] [new filename] Copies a file
rm [filename] Deletes a file
rm * Deletes all files in current directory
rm *.html Deletes all files ending in .html

Creating, Moving, Copying and Deleting Directories

mkdir [directory name] Creates a new directory
ls -d */ Lists all directories within current directory
cp -r [directory] [new directory] Copies a directory and all files/directories in it
rmdir [directory name] Removes a directory if it is empty
rm -r [directory name] Removes a directory and all files in it

Searching Files and Directories

find . -name [filename] -print Searches for a file starting with current directory
grep [text] [filename] Searches for text within a file

File and Directory Permissions

There are three levels of file permissions; read, write, and execute.  In addition, there are three groups to which you can assign permissions; file owner, user group, and everyone. 

The command chmod followed by three numbers is used to change permissions.  The first number is the permission for the owner, the second for the group and the third for everyone.  Here are how the levels of permission translate:

0 = --- No permission
1 = --x Execute only
2 = -w- Write only
3 = -wx Write and execute
4 = r-- Read only
5 = r-x Read and execute
6 = rw- Read and write
7 = rwx Read, write and execute

It is preferred that the group always have permission of 0.  This prevents other users on the server from browsing files via FTP.  Here are the most common file permissions used:

chmod 604 [filename] Minimum permissions for HTML file
chmod 705 [directory name] Minimum permissions for directories
chmod 755 [filename] Minimum permissions for scripts & programs
chmod 606 [filename] Permissions for data files used by scripts
chmod 703 [directory name] Write-only permissions for public FTP uploading


 

 

PuTTY


What is Putty?

Putty is a free implementation of SSH for Windows. You can find more information about it at http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty.

 


Using Putty

1. Download Putty from http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html and place it in your Windows desktop.

2. Double click on the putty.exe icon and a you will see this:
 

Screen Shot

3. Type your hostname on the "Host Name" field and select "SSH" as your "Protocol"

4. Click on "Open" and you will see this:

Screen Shot

4. Select "Yes" and you will see:

Screen Shot

5. Enter the "username" assigned to your account and press the Enter key.

6. Enter the "password" (you will not see it as your type it) and press Enter again. You will see:

Screen Shot

 

You are now logged into your account.

You can begin running commands at the "$" prompt.

 

SecureCRT

What is SecureCRT?

SecureCRT is a premiere SSH client that is widely used. You can find out more information about it on http://www.vandyke.com/download/securecrt/.

 


Using SecureCRT
 
1. Download SecureCRT from http://www.vandyke.com/download/securecrt/index.html and place it in your Windows desktop.

 

2. Install the program and run it, if its the first time you use it, you will see this:
 

Screen Shot

3. Click "OK" and you will see this:

Screen Shot

4. Click on "I Agree" and you will see:

Screen Shot

5. Removed the check and select "No". You will then see:

Screen Shot

6. Select ssh1 for your "Protocol".

7. Type your domain name in the "Hostname" field.

8. Type your username in the "Username" field.

9. Click on "Connect" and you will see:

Screen Shot

10. Click on "Accept & Save" and you will see:

Screen Shot

11. Enter the password assigned to you.

12. Click on "OK" and you will see:

Screen Shot

 

You are now logged into your account.

You can begin running commands at the "$" prompt.

 

SSH for Macintosh

There are several different SSH clients for the Macintosh platform. The two most popular are Nifty Telnet and Better Telnet. Both can be found by doing a search at tucows.com.
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