Secure SHell (SSH)
Overview
What is SSH?
Secure SHell (SSH) is a software standard to support encrypted data transfer between two computers. It can be used to support secure logins, file transfers or general purpose connects. Servers maintained by ITS require SSH-based connections in most cases. The policy for handling sensitive data may also require that you use SSH-based software for some data transfers between between University systems and other sites.
SSH Software Used at UVa
The servers maintained by ITS and most departments at the University of Virginia use version 2 of the SSH standard. Various commands are available to take advantage of the SSH to provide encrypted communications. The following table includes the most commonly used client applications used to establish an SSH based connection.
| Purpose | Windows | Mac OS | UNIX/Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| Login to a remote server | SecureCRT* | Terminal† running slogin† | slogin† |
| Run a single command on a remote server | Terminal† running ssh† | ssh† | |
| Copy files to/from a remote server | SecureFX* | Fugu* Terminal† running scp† or sftp† |
scp† or sftp† |
| Web Publishing | SFTP option in site setup in Dreamweaver‡ | ||
* Program available on Software Central |
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SSH or VPN?
While both SSH and the VPN provide secure data transmission, VPN connections only encrypt between your computer and the destination network. SSH connections encrypt data transfer even between devices on the same network. VPN may be preferable when all activity between your machine and a secure network needs to be protected, or to access restricted services on the destination network. For specific use of SSH instead of VPN to access certain license servers at the University see SSH for License Server Port Forwarding.
Page Updated: 2012-02-16
