Code, Security and Server Stuff
Views are my own and not my employer's.
This is a quick guide for people that do not know you can also transfer files over SSH connection to/from a server with SFTP. SFTP is a protocol that works over SSH/Secure Shell connections. I am using Windows 10 locally and want to transfer files to/from my Linux servers.
Read the full article here: https://fearby.com/article/using-the-winscp-client-on-windows-to-transfer-files-to-and-from-a-linux-server-over-sftp/
This is a quick guide for people that do not know you can also transfer files over SSH connection to/from a server with SFTP. SFTP is a protocol that works over SSH/Secure Shell connections. I am using Windows 10 locally and want to transfer files to/from my Linux servers. In the past I have setup plain FTP servers but I do not set them up any longer.
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I have setup servers on UpCloud using this guide to setup servers with SSH. I recently blogged about using PHP Storm to transfer files over SFTP but how can I do it outside PHP Storm. I have an older guide on how to do this with the Forklift program on OSX.
Go to https://winscp.net/eng/index.php and download and setup WinSCP.
Ensure you have a working connection to your server over a SSH first.
I connected to my server and compressed a folder ready to transfer over SFTP.
sudo zip -r /17-apr-2019-www.zip /wwwroot/I now had a 1.8 gigabyte file to download over SFTP.
Open WinSCP
You will see a window that will allow you to add a server server connection
Add your server name and port for SSH, also ad your SSH username. I wont add a ‘password as I login with SSH keys (not passwords)
Click on Advanced then Advanced to set more options like private keys.
Enter the path to your SSH private Key
It is a good idea to set folders and to remember the last directory used.
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Save the connection
Now you will have a quick access shortcut to your server.
I have a passphrase setup for my Private key so I need to enter that on each connection.
I have 2FA hardware one Time Passwords setup at login (read here) and WinSCP asks me for this passphrase. Nice.
Now I can see my remote server as if it was a local drive.
Nice
I downloaded the backup file created earlier by dragging from the remote server window to my local computer window).
Downloads were not fast (about 1.5MB/s on a 50 megabyte connection.
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It is a good idea to enable right shell extensions in Windows Explorer to upload a file via SFTP.
Select Options and Preferences once you connect to a server.
Click Add upload shortcut to Explorer’s ‘Sent To’context menu.
Now when you right click on a file in Windows Explorer you can sent it to a server.
You will be asked by WinSCP what server to connect to, Select it and click Login.
An upload progress bar will appear. When the upload done the WinSCP will disconnect
Nice.
WinSCP is also good at editing files in WinSCP or using your preferred editor.
I hope this guide helps someone. Apologies if you already know this.
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v1.0 Inital Post
This post aims to show how you can connect to a remote VM server using Telnet/SSH Secure shell with a free program called Putty on Windows. This not an advanced guide, I hope you find it useful.
Read the full article here: https://fearby.com/article/connecting-to-a-server-via-ssh-secure-shell-with-putty/
This post aims to show how you can connect to a remote VM server using Telnet/SSH Secure shell with a free program called Putty on Windows. This not an advanced guide, I hope you find it useful.
You will learn how to connect (via Windows) to a remote computer (Linux) over the Telnet protocol using SSH (Secure Shell). Once you login you can remotely edit web pages, learn to code, install programs or do just about anything.
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Read about other common glossary terms used on the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Internet-related_terms
If you want a webpage on the internet (or just a server to learn how to program) it’s easier to rent a VM for a few dollars a month and manage it yourself (with Telnet/SSH Secure Shell) than it is to buy a $5,000 server, place it in a data centre and pay for electricity and drive in every few days and update it. Remote management of VM servers via SSH/Secure Shell is the way for small to medium solutions.
There are pros and cons to all solutions above (e.g cost, security, scalability, performance, risk) but these are outside this post’s topic. I have deployed VMs on provides like AWS, Digital Ocean, Vultr and UpCloud for years. If you need to buy a VM you can use this link and get $25 free credit.
I used to use the OSX Operating System on Apple computers. I was used to using the VSSH software program to connect to servers deployed on UpCloud (using this method). With the demise of my old Apple Mac book (due to heat) I have moved back to using Windows (I am never using Apple hardware again until they solve the heat issues).
Also, I prefer to use Linux servers in the cloud (over say Windows) because I believe they are cheaper, faster and more secure.
Enough talking lets configure a connection.
Whenever you want to connect to a remote server via Telnet/SSH Secure Shell you will need a public and private key to encrypt communications between you and the remote server.
The public key is configured on your server (on Linux you add the public key to this file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys).
The private key is used by programs (usually on your local computer) to connect to the remote server.
I usually run this command on Ubuntu or Debian Linux to generate a public and private SSH key.
sudo ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096The key below was generated for this post and is not used online. Keys are like physical keys, people who have them and know where to use them can use them.
Output:
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/username/.ssh/id_rsa): ./server
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): ********
Enter same passphrase again: ********
Your identification has been saved in ./server.
Your public key has been saved in ./server.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
SHA256:sxfcyn4oHQ1ugAdIEGwetd5YhxB8wsVFxANRaBUpJF4 [email protected]
The key's randomart image is:
+---[RSA 4096]----+
| .oB**[email protected] |
| +.==B.+ |
| o .o+o+.. |
| .. +..o... |
| o ..Sooo. |
| ++o. |
| .o+o |
| .oo . |
| ... |
+----[SHA256]-----+
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The two files were created
server
server.pubPublic Key Contents (“server.pub”)
ssh-rsa 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 [email protected]Private Key Contents (“server”), always keep the private key safe and never publish it.
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
Proc-Type: 4,ENCRYPTED
DEK-Info: AES-128-CBC,D34670C40CE3778974BEF97094010597
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V660fczVXeedfd2tNBy1IBj1vhGa9j5mZLbFwTczykwCFfihLIrxSEc1MQA4CaSX
-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
The Public and Private keys
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If you do not have a Linux computer or Linux server to generate keys the Putty generator can create keys too.
I did not know Putty can create keys.
Do save the public and private key(s) that were generated in Puttygen (tip: PPK files are what we are after along with the public key later in this post).
Public keys are added to your server when you deploy them. On Linux, you can add new
Puttygen does format the keys differently than how Ubuntu generates them. Read more here. I’ll keep generating keys in Linux over Puttygen.
Putty is a free windows program that you can use to connect to serves via SSH. Download and install the Putty program.
Open Putty
Default Putty User Interface.
To create a connection add an exiting IP address (server name) and SSH port (22) to Putty.
In Putty (note the tree view to the left of the image), You can set the auto login name to use to log into the remote server under the Connection the Data in the tree view item
You can also set the username under the Connection then Rlogin section of Putty.
OK, lets add the private SSH Key to Putty.
It looks like Putty only supports PPK private key files not ones generated by Linux. I used to be able to use the private key in the VSSH program on OSX and add the private key to connect to the server over SSH. Putty does not allow you to use Linux generated Private keys directly.
Putty comes with a Key Generator/Converter, you can open your existing RSA private key and convert it (or generate a new one).
TIP: If you generate a key in Puttygen
Open Puttygen
Click Conversions than Import Key and choose the private key you generated in Linux
The private key will be opened
You can then save the private key as a PPK file.
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PuTTY-User-Key-File-2: ssh-rsa
Encryption: aes256-cbc
Comment: imported-openssh-key
Public-Lines: 12
AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAACAQC7Xo9bOCXJ7gVjP8tKOxHVId3KTo5I0VRU
/kSRK3+mGd5VbDbQABo3tdWzYhzkjODzRS9TeL2dcLAQNNQKshi9IW5IGDS1NocS
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kxMLnuj7zw==
Private-Lines: 28
DkpbM78GgGBSgfs9MsmZwDJj6HFXdoe+fCP1rLnwbE99mvU6Fbs23hXd+FsVdQbb
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J4BO7pzXECnWYutB14UxHw==
Private-MAC: 12298fa865ac574da81898252e83b812200cba59
Now the PPK key can be added to Putty for any server connection that uses
Add the private key to a Putty server by clicking
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Now we need to save the connection, click back on the Session note at the top of the
Once you have added a server name, port, usernames and private key to Putty you can double click the server list item to connect to your server.
You will see a message about accepting the public key from the server. Click Yes. This fingerprint will be the same fingerprint that was shown when you generated the keys (if not maybe someone is hacking in the middle of your local computer and server)
Hopefully, you will now have full access to your server with the account you logged in with.
Happy Coding.
I will always run
I have blogged about alternatives but these solutions always sacrifice something and costs are usually higher and performance can be slower.
I am also lucky enough I can do this as a hobby and its not my day job. when you self manage a VM you will have endless tasks or securing your server and tweaking but its fun.
Read some useful Linux commands here and read my past guides here. If you want to buy a domain name click here.
If you are bored and want to learn more about SSH Secure shell read this.
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Version: Draft 1.0 Initial Draft
I have blogged about http://c9.io before and how it makes managing a remote Ubuntu server easier. Recently AWS acquired C9 and integrated it into AWS. This has triggered me to find a more open/free way to connect to my servers. I like AWS but I can tell that C9 will someday block you from talking to non-AWS servers.
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C9 Aquisition
C9 on AWS: https://aws.amazon.com/cloud9/?origin=c9io
C9 Aquisition: https://c9.io/announcement
I have blogged about connecting to an AWS EC2 instance with C9 (before AWS acquired C9), The quickest way to set up a scalable development IDE and web server when I was using Digital Ocean Servers, How to buy a new domain (dedicated server from digital ocean) and add an SSL certificate from NameCheap but when I moved to Vultr serves I decided to ditch C9 and save $9 a month. I got used to setting up an SSH connection, using rmate to edit remote files locally with Sublime and SSH’ing into the box with vSSH on OSX but nothing replaced the C9 file management experience.
C9 was a good IDE (but recent price hikes and AWS purchase have made me cautious).
Uploading files without C9 to Ubuntu
Uploading files from an OSX laptop to a remote Ubuntu server is possible with the SCP command
Server Actions (to upload the old way, with scp)
There has to be a better way
I have used the Forklift 3 program before (my review here) and in recent google searches, it was suggested that Forklift best SFTP program on OSX. Yay. This unix.stackexchange.com thread mentions the difference between SFTP and SSH.
Below are the steps to use SFTP in Foftlift 3 on OSX to connect to a Vultr server (you could use Digital Ocean). Ensure you have a working SSH connection setup from your server to your local OSX.
Setting up an SFTP Connection in Forklift 3
Read my Forklift 3 guide here first.
Update your Forklift to the latest version.
Add a Favorite in Forklift 3
Name the connection
In Forklift edit the connection
Specify SFTP and your servers working SSH username and password, and “/” folders
Save.
Double Click the entry to connect to your server.
To upload or download files with Forklift over SFTP, simply drag and drop.
Simple
You can now use Forklift to navigate folders, delete files, set remote file permissions all from a GUI. You can still use SSH CLI and or Sublime.
Quik Edit works too.
Nice, this gives me a convenient GUI way to upload, download and edit files instead of via CSP/SSH/CLI.
Now is there an SFTP plugin for Sublime?
More to come soon.
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Revision History
v1.0 Initial Draft
Below is the way I connect to a remote server via SSH keys generated on OSX.
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Setting up a server
When you set up an Ubuntu server on Vultr (read my guide on setting up a Vultr server for as low as $2.5 a month) or Digital Ocean (use this link to get two months free when you setup an Ubuntu server on digital ocean) you can specify an SSH key to use for remote connections during the server create stage (old guide here).
How to create an SSH key on OSX to use to connect to a remote server
Run the following command (“sudo ssh-keygen -t rsa“) to generate an ssh key paid in “~/.ssh/” on OSX.
TIP: It is a good idea to also generate a passphrase to use with the key (double protection). You will be prompted to enter this password to use the RSA key.
You can now see the generated keys in ~/.ssh/
You can view the contents of the public file (you can use this when generating Digital Ocean, Vultr, AWS or Azure or other cloud servers).
fyi: Replace 123.123.123.123 with your remote serves ip.
How to connect to a server (the old way).
As long as your host added the desired public ssh key file contents to the server (adding the public ssh key contents to “~/.ssh/authorized_keys” you will be able to connect to the server.
Run the following command on OSX command line to connect to the server via SSH.
You should see..
Congratulations, you should now be able to connect to your server via SSH.
Securing your ubuntu Server
Read my guides here, here and here.
Don’t forget to add a firewall and set up an SSL certificate.
How to connect to a server (faster way).
todo: ~/.ssh/config method
Now we can connect to your remote server with the shorter method.
todo: ~/.ssh/config method
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Revision History
v1.0 Initial Post
etc
This guide will show you how to use Sublime Text editor locally to edit code files on a remote server via SSH.
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This guide assumes oy already have a working SSH connection between your Mac and your remote server (with no firewall issues) and have configured SSH keys via modifying to authorized_keys file to enable SSH access.
Need a server?
I now use UpCLoud for cloud servers as they are super fast (read the blog post here). Get $25 free credit by signing up at UpCloud using this link.
UpCloud is way faster than Vulr.
Setting up slower region specific servers can be found here. Set up a Server on Vultr here for as low as $2.5 a month or set up a Server on Digital Ocean (and get the first 2 months free ($5/m server)). I have a guide on setting up a Vultr server here or Digital Ocean server here. Don’t forget to add a free LetsEncrypt SSL Certificate and secure the server (read more here and here).
Buy a domain name from Namecheap here.
Setting up your local machine
Open Sublime Text 3 and press COMMAND+SHIFT+P to bring up the command bar and type Install and click Package Control: Install Package and click it.
Wait a few seconds for the packages list to show and type “rsub”
Ok let’s make an SSH alias to your server on your Mac by typing “sudo nano ~/.ssh/config”
Make these changes
File contents:
Now we can connect to the server via SSH by typing “ssh mysrv”
After typing the server’s password you will be connected to the ssh server
Now on your local Mac load the following page in a web browser (and review the code): https://raw.github.com/aurora/rmate/master/rmate and copy the contents to the clipboard.
On the remote server (the SSH one) type:
Now paste the contents or this page into nano editor and save it and exit nano.
Now run this chmod command to make the rmate file executable.
Now on the server, we can open any text file with rmate and have it open locally in Sublime via SSH. Yes, Open a file on a server and have it automatically open in locally 🙂
If you have many files to open then create a bash file to open files with rmate
sudo nano openfilesonmac.sh
Contents:
#!/bin/bash rmate index.html rmate index1.html rmate index2.html rmate index3.html rmate index4.html rmate index5.html rmate index6.html rmate index7.html rmate index8.html rmate index9.html rmate index10.html
File permissions:
chmod +x openfilesonmac.sh
Now we can open may remote files locally by running the bash script.
All saves in Sublime locally are sent to the server 🙂
e.g
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Port Forwarding with vSSH on OSX
If you use a third party ssh program like vSSH you will also need to setup port forwarding to avoid this error
How.
Now you can open remote files locally with SSH or vSSH too.
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v1.4 Added UpCloud Info.
v1.3 vSSH Port forwarding.
Recently I setup and Amazon EC2 Ubuntu Server instance and wanted to connect it to the awesome Cloud 9 IDE. I was sick of interacting with a server through terminal windows.
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Use this link and get $19 free credit with Cloud 9: https://c9.io/c/DLtakOtNcba
Cloud 9 IDE (sample screenshot)
Previously I was using Digital Ocean (my Digital Ocean setup guide here) and this was simple, you get a VM and you have a root account and you do what you want. Amazon AWS however, have extra layers of security that prevent logging in as root via SSH and that can be a pain with Cloud 9 as your workspace tree is restricted to the ~/ (home) folder.
Below are the steps you need to connect to an AWS instance with user “ubuntu” and “root” with Cloud 9.
Connecting to an AWS instance with Cloud 9 as user “ubuntu”
1. Purchase and set-up your AWS instance (my guide here).
2. You need to be able to login to your AWS server from a terminal prompt (from OSX). This may include opening port 22 the AWS Security Group panel. Info on SSH logins here.
3. On your AWS server (from step 2) Install NodeJS.
You will know node is installed if you get a version returned when typing the following bash command.
node -v
tip: If node is not installed you can run the Cloud 9 pre-requisites script (that includes node).
curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/c9/install/master/install.sh | bash
4. Ensure you have created SSH key on Cloud 9 (guide here).
5. Copy your Cloud 9 SSH key to the clipboard.
6. On your AWS server (in step 2) edit the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file and paste in the Cloud 9 SSH key (after you AWS key pair that was added from the setup of AWS) to a new line and save the file.
7. Log in to Cloud 9 and click create Workspace then Remote SSH Workspace.
8. Click Create Workspace
9. If all goes well you will have a prompt to install the prerequisites.
If this fails check out the Cloud 9 guide here.
Troubleshooting: I had errors like “Project directory does not exist or is not writable and “Unable to change File System Path in SSH Workspace” because I was trying to set the workspace path as “/” (this is not possible on AWS with the “ubuntu” account.
10. Now you should have a web-based IDE that allows you to browse your server, create and edit files, run termials instances that will reconnect if your net connection or browser tab drops out (you can even go to a different machine and continue with your session).
Connecting to an AWS instance with Cloud 9 as user “root
Connecting to your server as the “ubuntu” server is fine if you just need to work in your “ubuntu” home folder. As soon as you want to start changing other settings outside of your home folder you are stuck. Granting “ubuntu” higher privileges server wide is a bad idea so here is how you can enable “root” login via SSH access.
WARNING: Logging in as ROOT IS BAD, you should only allow Root Login for short periods and it is advisable to remove root login abilities as soon as you do not need them or in production.
Having root access while developing or building a new server saves me bucket loads of time so lets allow it.
1. Follow step 1 to 5 in the steps above (setup AWS, ssh access via terminal, install node, create cloud 9 ssh key, copy the cloud 9 ssh key to the clipboard).
2. SSH to your AWS server and edit the following file:
Save.
3. Backup your root authorised keys file
4. Edit the root authorized_keys file and paste in your Cloud 9 SSH Key.
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5. Now you can create a Cloud 9 Connection to your server with root
tip: If you have not added you SSH key correctly you will receive this error when connecting.
6. You should now be able to connect to AWS ec2 instances with Cloud 9 as root and configure/do anything you want without switching to shell windows.
Security
As a precaution, do check your website often in https://www.shodan.io and see if it has open software or is known to hackers.
Enjoy
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V1.6 security
