Overview of SSH

SSH stands for Secure Shell, and it is a method of accessing a remote server securely over an unsecured network.

With SSH, you can securely log into your server, transfer files, and execute commands on the server. Using a local SSH connection allows you to establish a secure connection to your server from your local computer.

To access your server with a local SSH connection, you'll need an SSH client installed on your local computer. Luckily, all modern computers come pre-installed with some type of SSH client. Mac and Linux users have it built into their terminal, while Windows users can use Command Prompt or Windows Powershell.

You will also need to know the IP address or URL of the server, as well as the username and password for the server. Once the connection is established, you can use your SSH client
to send commands to the server and manage it remotely.

Using Windows Powershell To Access Our Server Via SSH

We'll be using Windows Powershell for the rest of this tutorial to make all changes to our server. First, we need to grab the SSH code to access our server.

From your Linode Cloud Console, copy this code to the right of 'SSH Access'. It should look similar to the following but with your IP Address instead.

ssh root@45.56.84.8

Now we need to open up the application 'Windows Powershell' which is installed by default on your computer. Hit your Windows Key and type in 'Powershell' and you will see it pop up in your Start Menu. Click to open it up.

Inside Windows Powershell, we'll find another Command Line Interface (CLI) type. You might be used to right-clicking to copy and paste or using CTRL+V, but that won't work here. To paste in Windows Powershell, you right-click. Ensure your ssh access code is copied to your clipboard, and right-click the Powershell screen to paste your code. Hit enter.

Since you've never logged into this server before, Windows will notify you that you don't 'trust' this server yet. Type 'yes' and hit enter to add our server's fingerprint to our list of Known Hosts.

You'll then be prompted to enter your password. This is your Root Password you setup when you created your Linode. You won't see any changes while you're typing your password in, that's normal. After you type in your password, hit enter.

Now you'll see a screen just like mine here. You'll notice this looks almost identical to our LISH console. We are now inside our server via SSH, where we'll be doing all the fun stuff from here on out.

We now have access to our server through the terminal on our local computer via SSH. Next, we'll update, upgrade, and secure our server to prevent unauthorized access.

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