What can I use SSH for?

Thoht · 2008-08-25 06:30:43

Hey folks!

So I just got X and Openbox along with a bunch of handy GTK applications up and running, and sat up the whole night installing stuf when I came across the Wiki entry for SSH. I set it up and got it running rather quickly, accessing my Archlinux desktop from my MacBook Pro, so that's wicked cool! Now I wonder, I heard that Irssi and Screen is all the rage, that I could keep Irssi running 24/7 or something on my desktop and connect remotely from my laptop... I think I have a tutorial to doing that somewhere - but what else can I do remotely from my laptop? I'm pretty much just an ordinary PC user, I listen to music, draw stuf, write stuf, surf the web... what do you do via SSH?

Thanks for the tips!

Edit: Changed subject into something more appropriate.

Last edited by Thoht (2008-08-25 09:11:44)

IMG · 2008-08-25 06:55:29

what do you do via SSH?

Well you basically open a (mostly) command line session to the computer you ssh ,
and this pretty much allows you to do virtually anything you want to do, allowing you to "teleoperate" other computers you may have. You can get some X forwarding aswell , but i wouldnt suggest it as it consumes too much bandwith.If you want graphical "teleoperation" you could use one of the remote desktop/sharing programs such as krdc et al.

Personally , when i bought my laptop , i pretty much stopped touching the desktop, as i was doing everything remotely (eg, playing music at desktop,any administation thingy, while you are resting on couch/bed).

Enjoy
IMG

xvalentinex · 2008-08-25 07:08:16

Just a few,

You can use SSH as a file transfer protocol (sftp or scp) and you can even mount a Linux folder on your MAC over ssh (a quick google reveals macFUSE)

You can forward an X application over your ssh tunnel. So the program runs on the remote PC but is displayed on your local PC (I think this is doable between a Linux and MAC).

You can create a tunnel past a restrictive firewall.

If your talking about terminal apps, there are lots you can do over an ssh terminal
mutt/pine for email
bitchx/irssi for irc
rtorrent for torrents
lynx/links/w3c for web browsing

tam1138 · 2008-08-25 16:03:01

I think a more apt question would be: what *can't* you use ssh for?

madhatter · 2008-08-25 17:43:15

You can even watch movies with mplayer -vo caca

cactus · 2008-08-25 20:18:58

tam1138 wrote:

I think a more apt question would be: what *can't* you use ssh for?

sudo make_me_a_sandwich

kclive18 · 2008-08-25 22:37:38

SSHFS is a great way to use SSH. It's basically NFS over an SSH connection (on OSX it's called MacFUSE, if any of you are Mac users out here). I use SSHFS all the time to transfer stuff b/w my laptop and my imac.

finferflu · 2008-08-26 09:53:13

You can install, configure and run synergy on both machines

Thoht · 2008-08-26 16:04:55

Thanks for all the tips! Especially MacFUSE looks cool.

On another note, while connected via SSH there's alot of lag, delays, from when I type and when they letters show up on the screen. Any idea what could be the cause of this, or how to start troubleshooting? I've got a quite speedy 3G connection running, which doesn't act up otherwise.

Has anyone tried altering rTorrents UI? I like how simple it is, I'm no poweruser, but It'd be cool if it was a bit more pleasing for the eyes at a quick glance, like nano is. Maybe I should start another topic for that... at the project fora....

Did anyone try running Transmission as a bittorrent client through SSH? It doesn't seem to have a TUI? Only CLI? Transmission is the only client I'd consider on my Mac, but the GTK interface on my Archlinux PC aside, it doesn't seem to offer alot beyond the daemon feature and CLI interface?

(I really dig ncurses stuf!)

Garns · 2008-08-26 21:36:49

Thoht wrote:

On another note, while connected via SSH there's alot of lag, delays, from when I type and when they letters show up on the screen. Any idea what could be the cause of this, or how to start troubleshooting? I've got a quite speedy 3G connection running, which doesn't act up otherwise.

SSH is mainly about roundtrip time (you press a key, message gets send to the server, server recieves, reacts, sends message back, you recieve the message and see the next character on your screen). Last thing I heard 3G was pretty crappy in this area. So I'd say some lagging is to be expected. Unless "doesn't act up otherwise" includes playing ego shooters on the net . If I am wrong and it is a bandwith problem you could try compression.
You could look into FreeNX as well, but that probably won't help much with cli lagging. You will notice an immense speedup with X apps though.

Edit: Where did that H under my post come from? Who put it there? I should go to bed.

Last edited by Garns (2008-08-26 21:38:15)

Thoht · 2008-08-26 21:51:07

Garns wrote:

SSH is mainly about roundtrip time (you press a key, message gets send to the server, server recieves, reacts, sends message back, you recieve the message and see the next character on your screen).

That'd explain it I suppose, thanks. I though nothing would be sent before I pressed the enter key.

Garns wrote:

Last thing I heard 3G was pretty crappy in this area. So I'd say some lagging is to be expected.

Now that you mention it, my 7,2 Mbit/s 3G-modem is alot slower than my 1 Mbit/s ethernet/broadband/wired (correct term?) at home.

colbert · 2008-08-27 03:35:05

madhatter wrote:

You can even watch movies with mplayer -vo caca

Hey that sounds quite interesting, how does that work exactly? Say I'm on my Windows XP box at my office and I use putty to get into my arch box at home, what exactly would occur? I'm pretty new with SSH too, intrigued at the possibilities

rizzix · 2008-08-27 06:47:30

You can also use it for port-forwarding and to create your own VPN.

madhatter · 2008-08-27 18:02:42

colbert wrote:

madhatter wrote:
You can even watch movies with mplayer -vo caca
Hey that sounds quite interesting, how does that work exactly? Say I'm on my Windows XP box at my office and I use putty to get into my arch box at home, what exactly would occur? I'm pretty new with SSH too, intrigued at the possibilities

It's more of a toy, it displays the video with ASCII characters, so it's not really watchable - also, no sound.
I don't know if there's a good way to stream video over ssh, but you can stream video with vlc (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/streaming.html)

QuimaxW · 2008-09-13 02:27:16

colbert wrote:

madhatter wrote:
You can even watch movies with mplayer -vo caca
Hey that sounds quite interesting, how does that work exactly? Say I'm on my Windows XP box at my office and I use putty to get into my arch box at home, what exactly would occur? I'm pretty new with SSH too, intrigued at the possibilities

I use ssh for tons of stuff. At home, it's a remote access to the server so I don't have to get off the couch. X forwarding applications over the wireless at home usually works pretty decent as well.

At work or wireless hot spots, it's a proxy server

ssh -D 8080 (or pick a port) server.com

I point Firefox & Thunderbird through the proxy and I (feel) automagically secure in my surfing vs the unencrypted free for all wireless connection I'm using. The other handy dandy feature is that it allows me to circumvent (for lack of a better term) the port 25 blocking of my ISP so I can actually send e-mails when I'm away from home.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-08-25 06:30:43

What can I use SSH for?

#2 2008-08-25 06:55:29

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#3 2008-08-25 07:08:16

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#4 2008-08-25 16:03:01

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#5 2008-08-25 17:43:15

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#6 2008-08-25 20:18:58

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#7 2008-08-25 22:37:38

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#8 2008-08-26 09:53:13

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#9 2008-08-26 16:04:55

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#10 2008-08-26 21:36:49

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#11 2008-08-26 21:51:07

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#12 2008-08-27 03:35:05

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#13 2008-08-27 06:47:30

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#14 2008-08-27 18:02:42

Re: What can I use SSH for?

#15 2008-09-13 02:27:16

Re: What can I use SSH for?

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