Connecting to the Math Department with the Secure Shell

  1. Ssh (Secure Shell)
  2. PuTTY
  3. Mac ssh
  4. Crossplatform solutions

  1. Ssh (Secure Shell)

    On Unix-like enviroments such as Linux you can login remotely and transfer files between machines using ssh, scp and sftp. For non-Unix environments such as Windows see below.

    For security reasons, in general it is not possible to connect to a machine inside the Math Department from outside the university unless you are using VPN. On the other hand, if your are inside the university network (or using VPN) and your machine has ssh (the secure shell) installed, then you may be able to connect to some selected public machines in the Math department with a command like this: 

         ssh lunt.math.northwestern.edu

    If your have different login names on the local and remote machines, type 

         ssh username@lunt.math.northwestern.edu
    where username is your username in the department computer network.

    The connection provided by ssh is secure because all the information is transmitted encrypted.

    The ssh command works pretty much like rlogin, but you cannot use it for transferring files. For that purpose use scp or sftp. For instance, in order to copy the file foo from your home directory on the department network to the directory /tmp on your local machine type: 

         scp username@lunt.math.northwestern.edu:foo /tmp

    The program sftp works like ftp, i.e., you open first a session 

         sftp username@lunt.math.northwestern.edu
    and then transfer files with the usual commands put, get, etc. The session ends with exit, quit, or bye.

    Note: The secure shell (ssh) should also be used instead of telnet or rlogin for any connection between machines inside the Math Department, since it provides higher security.

  2. PuTTY

    PuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 platforms, written and maintained primarily by Simon Tatham.

  3. Mac ssh

    Under the hood Mac OS X is (BSD) Unix. Hence you can use ssh on a terminal Window as you would on any Unix-like environment.

  4. Crossplatform solutions

    FileZilla is a free crossplatform easy to use solution for transferring files between machines. Download the FileZilla Client for your OS and follow the instructions on their website. NOTE: the version downoaded using the big green button may come with adware, i.e., ad generating software. We recommend to go to "Show additional download options" to get a link to an adware-free version of FileZilla.