SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Intended Audience

We’ve written this book for system administrators and technically minded users. Some chapters are suitable for a wide audience, while others are thoroughly technical and intended for computer and networking professionals.

End-User Audience

Do you have two or more computer accounts on different machines? SSH lets you connect one to another with a high degree of security. You can remotely log into one account from the other, execute remote commands, and copy files between accounts, all with the confidence that nobody can intercept your username, password, or data in transit.

Do you connect from a personal computer to an Internet service provider (ISP)? In particular, do you connect to a Unix shell account at your ISP? If so, SSH can make this connection significantly more secure. An increasing number of ISPs are running SSH servers for their users. In case your ISP doesn’t, we’ll show you how to run a server yourself.

Do you develop software? Are you creating distributed applications that must communicate over a network securely? Then don’t reinvent the wheel: use SSH to encrypt the connections. It’s a solid technology that may reduce your development time.

Even if you have only a single computer account, as long as it’s connected to a network, SSH can still be useful. For example, if you’ve ever wanted to let other people use your account, such as family members or employees, but didn’t want to give them unlimited use, SSH can provide a carefully controlled, limited-access ...