Where username is your SSH username, and hostname is the host name or IP address of your Web server. Once you have a terminal window open, type: To open a terminal on Linux, consult your distribution’s documentation usually it’s available via the applications menu.
On Mac OS X, you can do this by double-clicking the Terminal application inside Applications/Utilities in the Finder. To use it, you first need to open a terminal window.
If you use a Mac or run Linux, you’re in luck, as Mac OS X and Linux both come with a built-in SSH client.
Connecting using an SSH client on Mac OS X or Linux
In our case, the shell prompt is This tells us that we’re logged in with the username “matt”, the computer’s name is “bart”, and we’re currently in our home directory (~). Often the prompt ends in a dollar symbol ($). You’ll see PuTTY’s configuration dialog appear:Ī shell prompt is a small piece of text that lets you know the server is waiting for you to type something. To use it, simply download the putty.exe file, then double-click putty.exe on your computer to run it. There are many free and commercial SSH client programs available for Windows. Connecting using an SSH client on Windows If you’re not sure what to use for your hostname, username or password, check with your Web hosting company. A password This is the password that’s associated with the above username. Often it’s the same as your Web control panel or FTP username. A username This is the username that you’ll use to login via SSH. To talk to your Web server via SSH, you need an SSH client on your computer – see below – and you also need three pieces of information: Your Web server’s IP address or hostname Often – but not always – the hostname is the same as your website’s domain name. SSH is a protocol that allows you to connect to a remote computer – for example, your Web server – and type commands to be carried out on that computer, such as moving and copying files, creating directories (folders), and running scripts. If in doubt, ask your Web hosting company if they support SSH. This is often for security reasons, or because the host is running a non-UNIX server such as Windows. Not all Web hosts give you SSH access to your Web server.
In this tutorial we’ll introduce you to SSH – a tool that allows you to send remote commands to your Web server – and show you some simple UNIX commands to help you manage your website.