Using SSH and Putty

SSH, also known as Secure Shell or Secure Socket Shell, is a network protocol that gives users a secure way to access a computer over an unsecured network.  It gives you a command line interface to access files and run executable command or scripts.  Linux OS and Mac OS come with a terminal program that can run the SSH command, however, Windows currently does not have a way to implement SSH without installing a program.

PuTTY is one of many free tools that uses SSH to remotely login and access user accounts from outside the department.  Most Unix or Linux users are already familiar with using a terminal window and know the commands to use.  Most Windows users are usually not familiar with typing in commands and this page is mainly for these users.  Although, the information here is also useful to login for Linux or Mac users.

To begin with, all computers maintained by the Math Department Administrators should have PuTTY, a SSH client, installed by default.  For users on other computers, such as personal computers at home, you will need to download and install the client.  You can get it from here.

Once PuTTY is installed, there should be 1 icon on your Desktop.     Double-click on the PuTTY icon to launch it.

1) When you launch PuTTY, you should see the main window.
Use the following settings for Putty File Protocol SSH Host Name ssh.math.uh.edu Port Should be 22 For Linux/Mac terminal users Use the command: ssh ssh ssh.math.uh.edu   or   ssh dave@ssh.math.uh.edu (This last one will connect and start the login as the user dave, so that you only need to enter your password
2) Use ssh.math.uh.edu for the Host Name, leave the port number as 22.  In the Saved Sessions box, enter a title to save this connection for quick use in the future, like Math SSH.
3) Click the Save button.  This connection will now be saved to you can connect faster from now on. Click the Open button to start the new session.
4) Now you will be asked for your username and then press the Enter or Return key.  Next you have to type in your password.  Be sure to type it in correctly as what you type will not be echoed back to you.  For security reasons, it you manage to type in your password wrong 10 times, you will be locked out from remote logins and you will need to contact the .
5) When logged in, you should see something similar to the following:

For more help in using commands, check out some useful webpages like this wiki page.

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Copyright Dave Branda 2015.
Last revised: August 6, 2019 13:19