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Using SSH with Jimmy

NOTE: This was produced for the JIMMY server for which I was one of the administrators. Unlike the rest of the workshops I don't believe there is a wider audience for this VW and thus I wont be updating it, removing references to JIMMY.

Workshop Requirements

Before beginning this workshop ensure that you have the following:

• The SSH Secure Shell for Workstations installed.
• A Jimmy Username and Password.

What is SSH and why are we using it?

Secure Shell is a replacement for two other programs (Telnet and FTP) that have proven to be insecure as they send the users' password information as plain text across a network, potentially allowing other people to intercept these passwords. SSH sends all information in an encrypted form.

Telnet (and now SSH) is a program which allows users to connect to a remote machine and run programs on it. This was very popular before the World Wide Web grew in popularity, for gaining access to information held on remote computers.

FTP is a more common program that you may have experienced previously, which allows the transfer of files between machines.

SSH replaces both of this programs for use with the Jimmy Server and thus in other Virtual Workshops you will have to use SSH to connect to Jimmy, run programs remotely and to transfer files to your webspace.

Getting Started with the Secure Shell Client

You will first need to start the SSH program. If you have installed the program yourself you will probably find an icon to start Secure Shell under the start menu.

Start > Programs > SSH Secure Shell > Secure Shell Client

If you are one of the QMUC IT Workshops then the Icon should be under:

Start > Teaching Software > Secure Shell > Secure Shell Client

If that fails then ask your workshop tutor or the ITC Helpdesk

Once the program has started then the next step is to connect to the Jimmy machine.

Select Quick Connect from the toolbar and fill out the details required to connect to the Jimmy Machine (example below). Ensure that the User Name is set to your Jimmy Username and then hit the Connect Button.

You will now be asked a question about authentication keys. You can just accept the key and continue.

Finally enter your password and you should now have access to the Jimmy computer and be looking at what is known as a 'Command Line Interface' or CLI.

Before moving on you should see a small dialog box asking if you want to add this information to a profile.

Note: This 'Add Profile' box may disappear after 30 secs. To get it back choose 'Profiles -> Add Profile' from the taskbar.

Replace 'Profile Name' with 'My Jimmy Account' or something similar that you will recognise as the connection to Jimmy, and then click Add Current Connection to Profiles. This will mean that next time you use SSH to connect to Jimmy there will be a profile available from the taskbar containing your connection information (Host Name and User Name) so all you should have to enter is your password.

A few basic commands

You can now enter commands in a UNIX environment and although this is not a Virtual Workshop on UNIX commands (there may well be elsewhere) there are a few commands you can try immediately that will also be useful to know.

The first is 'ls' (List Short) which shows you the contents of the current directory

$ ls

Which should list two items

cgi-bin public_html

This is because every Jimmy user has these items in their home directory.

cgi-bin is where a user can put any web scripts.
public_html is where the user's webpage files go.

The second is 'cd' (Change Directory) which er... changes directory. The command is used like so.

$ cd <target_dir>

so that might be.....

$ cd public_html

.....to change to your public_html directory.

Mini exercise

Use the cd and ls commands to change into your public_html directory and list the contents of the directory.

Transferring Files with SSH

The part of the SSH program that transfers files in called 'Secure File Transfer Client' and can be started in two ways.

If you are already connected to Jimmy using the 'Secure Shell Client' then you can open the file transfer window by selecting

Window > New File Transfer    OR
By clicking on the File Transfer Icon on the task bar (see below)

Alternatively, if you are not already using the client you can start the 'Secure File Transfer Client' from the Start menu in the same way as with the Secure Shell Client above and follow the same instructions to connect. If you have already saved your details in a 'My Jimmy Account' profile, connection will be quicker.

Once you have successfully started the 'Secure File Transfer Client' you should see a window that is very similar to other Windows file management tools such as 'Windows Explorer'.

As you can see there are two panes. The pane on the left side to the window shows the directory structure or 'Tree' whereas the main pane on the right shows the contents of the current directory.

Uploading Files

As the main function of File Transfer is likely to be the Transfer of Files to the Jimmy Server (or uploading), we will attempt this task first.

Note: You will need a practice file to upload into your webspace (an image file is probably best). If you do not have a suitable file already on a local disk, you should download an image from the Internet before continuing. Alternatively you could make your own using George McMurdo's Graphics Virtual Workshop.

As with most things in computing there is more that one way to upload a file. Perhaps the simplest is the 'Drag and Drop' method.

First browse to the remote folder into which you wish to upload a file using the SSH File Transfer Program. When that is done open the local Windows Folder where you have stored an image to upload. Arrange File Transfer Client and the Windows Folder so that both are visible on the screen, and select the image file in the Windows Folder and drag it into the File Transfer Window. You should see the file being uploaded and appear in the remote directory.

The other way to upload a file is to click the Up Arrow Button on the File Transfer Client Taskbar. This will open a dialog box which you can use to browse to the location of the file you want to upload on the local machine.

Downloading files

Downloading a file is, of course, similar to uploading a file. You can 'drag and drop' a file from the File Transfer Window to a local folder OR you can select the file you wish to download, click the Down Arrow on the taskbar and browse to the local folder that you wish the file to go into.

Conclusion

This Virtual Workshop has only covered the basics of what the SSH software can do. There is obviously many more 'things to click' once you start using the software and certainly many UNIX commands and programs to run. These may well be examined in another Virtual Workshop, but having reached this stage your will (at a minimum) be able to upload and maintain your Jimmy hosted webpages.

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In this section

• Using SSH
• Setting Up a Server
• Configuring Apache
• Managing Log Files

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