Virtual Private Server User Guide

Internet and UNIX Basics

Rlogin. Although turned off by default, your VPS server provides support for the 

use of the rlogin (remote login) protocol. Rlogin allows you to log into a VPS 

account from a remote machine, similar to the way it would be done via Telnet, but 

with the added advantage of allowing specific users on specific machines to log in 

without requiring a password. This method should not be considered secure, 

however, because the communication is not encrypted and because the identity of 

remote users and servers can easily be falsified, or "spoofed."

Rshell. Also turned off by default, your VPS server provides support for the use of 

the rshell (remote shell) protocol. Rshell allows you to issue command from a 

remote computer that you are logged into. Like rlogin, it can be configured to allow 

specific users on specific machines to execute commands without password 

authentication. Also like rlogin, this method should not be considered secure 

because the communication is not encrypted and because the identity of remote 

users and servers can easily be spoofed.

SSH provides secure implementations of all of the features that are available 

through Telnet, Rlogin, and Rshell. If you can use SSH, we strongly recommend 

that you do so, and even recommend disabling Telnet services altogether. You 

can do disable Telnet using the Network Services tool in VAdmin or using the 

inetctl command, which is explained in the Network Services section of this 

guide). 

Obtaining an SSH Client

To use SSH, you must obtain a client that supports the SSH protocol. 

PuTTY is a free SSH client which can be downloaded at 

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html.

Windows users can also use the SecureCRT client from Van Dyke Technologies. 

SecureCRT includes a fully functional, 30 day evaluation license, as well as 

detailed instructions for using it. You can download a copy of SecureCRT by 

visiting the following URL: 

http://www.vandyke.com/products/

SecureCRT is already equipped with SSH. To use it, however, you must select 

"ssh" as the protocol in your session configurations; otherwise, the client will 

default to Telnet and your session will not be secure. Both the SSH version 1 and 

2 protocols are provided by your server, but if you use SSH 2, be sure to select 

"Standard" server.

For MacOS users, we suggest F Secure SSH from F Secure Corporation. You 

can obtain F Secure SSH at the following URL:

http://www.f secure.com/products/ssh/

Technical Training Department

August 2004

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