[Andy8]

Hi Guys,

I need some suggestions on a mac SSH client.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Andy8

Hi Guys,

I need some suggestions on a mac SSH client.

The terminal.

Really, why would you need a GUI client for SSH? Makes absolutely no sense to me...

Unless I'm misunderstanding you?

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by besson3c

The terminal.

Really, why would you need a GUI client for SSH? Makes absolutely no sense to me...

Unless I'm misunderstanding you?

I really do not know how to drive terminal, so unless someone wants to give me some pointers I would prefer a GUI client.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Andy8

I really do not know how to drive terminal, so unless someone wants to give me some pointers I would prefer a GUI client.

What do you need to do? SSH is a command line tool that gives you remote access to another computer via a Unix shell. A GUI may help you with the connection part, but the connection part is a piece of cake - knowing what to do once you have connected is the trickier part, which is why I was asking what you need to do, so perhaps we can help?


To establish a connection in your terminal simply type:


ssh username@servername



Where username is the username you will connect as, and server name is the DNS name or IP for the server you are connecting to. Connecting for the first time will ask you if you want to add the host key to your known hosts file, type in "yes", and then it will prompt you for your password.

Something tells me this is not where you'll get hung up though. Asking for a GUI for a command line client is kind of like asking for a stick to control the steering wheel of your car with, i.e. sooner or later you will need to know how to steer.

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by Andy8

I really do not know how to drive terminal, so unless someone wants to give me some pointers I would prefer a GUI client.

Yep. As Besson says, SSH is a method of securely connecting to another computer's command line interface.

Tell us exactly what you want to do with a remote computer and perhaps we can help.

Do you simply want to control a remote computer as if you're using it locally? Check out VNC clients (do a search for VNC on MacUpdate.com), Timbuktu or Apple Remote Desktop.

If you want encrypted FTP via SSH tunnel (SFTP), check out Transmit, Fugu or other similar FTP clients.

Do you simply want to send remote commands? That can be done with remote Applescript.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by Cadaver

Yep. As Besson says, SSH is a method of securely connecting to another computer's command line interface.

Tell us exactly what you want to do with a remote computer and perhaps we can help.

Do you simply want to control a remote computer as if you're using it locally? Check out VNC clients (do a search for VNC on MacUpdate.com), Timbuktu or Apple Remote Desktop.

If you want encrypted FTP via SSH tunnel (SFTP), check out Transmit, Fugu or other similar FTP clients.

Do you simply want to send remote commands? That can be done with remote Applescript.

I am trying to set up a secure tunnel between my mac and a unix/freebsd server so i can edit some text files and or upload additional text files as required.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Andy8

I am trying to set up a secure tunnel between my mac and a unix/freebsd server so i can edit some text files and or upload additional text files as required.

Do you have root access to the FreeBSD server? If so, I'd suggest installing the Netatalk port (if you have the portupgrade port installed, you can install Netatalk by typing: sudo portinstall -r netatalk). This will allow you to setup AFP connections to the FBSD server so that you can browse your files and edit them via the Finder.

Short of this, check out the Unix commands "rsync" and "scp". scp (and sftp are utilities included with OpenSSH, which is a part of FreeBSD. All you need to do is enable and start ssh to use these utilities.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you happen to have any other FBSD questions

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by besson3c

Do you have root access to the FreeBSD server? If so, I'd suggest installing the Netatalk port (if you have the portupgrade port installed, you can install Netatalk by typing: sudo portinstall -r netatalk). This will allow you to setup AFP connections to the FBSD server so that you can browse your files and edit them via the Finder.

Short of this, check out the Unix commands "rsync" and "scp". scp (and sftp are utilities included with OpenSSH, which is a part of FreeBSD. All you need to do is enable and start ssh to use these utilities.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you happen to have any other FBSD questions

I do not have root access and Netatalk port is not installed, so i guess my hands are tied?

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Andy8

I do not have root access and Netatalk port is not installed, so i guess my hands are tied?

So is SSH enabled?

[Peter]

terminal.app
but do some of these hints seriously, the terminal.app is borked.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by besson3c

So is SSH enabled?

Yes SSH is enabled

[Andy8]

I keep getting a message "This account is currently not available" after i login using ssh.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Andy8

I keep getting a message "This account is currently not available" after i login using ssh.

It is possible that your username was not granted access to connect via SSH. Do you have access to view the contents of /etc/ssh/sshd_config?

What happens when you do a:

telnet <servername> 22


Do you get anything saying that you are connected to the server?

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Peter

terminal.app
but do some of these hints seriously, the terminal.app is borked.

Or use iTerm.

[Peter]

Originally Posted by besson3c

Or use iTerm.

I had problems with that forgetting my terminal colours.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Peter

I had problems with that forgetting my terminal colours.

You could try using SSH Keychain as well. Not only is it useful GUI to ssh-agent, but it can also set environment variables.