Using SSH to Connect to Mizar

SSH is a security protocol that lets users connect to and communicate with other computers using encryption. Less secure protocols, such as Telnet, do so in plain text, which allows anyone who is observing network traffic to easily see user passwords during the login process.

You can connect to mizar.usc.edu to edit and move files to your personal web page and UNIX account. This page provides instructions for how to use X-Win32, Putty, and OpenSSH to connect to mizar.usc.edu via SSH.

Using PuTTY to Connect to Mizar via SSH (Windows)

To create a new PuTTY connection to mizar.usc.edu:

1. From the Start menu, select All Programs, Internet Tools, and then PuTTY.
2. In the PuTTY Configuration window, in the Host Name (or IP address) field, type mizar.usc.edu.
3. In the Port field, type 22.
4. For Connection type, choose SSH.
5. Click Open to start your connection to mizar.usc.edu.



Note: If it is the first time your computer has connected using PuTTY, you will receive a message that the secure connection key for the specified host does not yet exist on your computer. If you trust the host you are connecting to, click Yes to save the key on your computer for future use when connecting to that host. If you would like to connect now but do not want to save the key, click No.

6. You will be prompted to log in. Type your username and press Enter. For security reasons, your password will not appear on the screen when you type it.
7. You will be prompted to enter your password. Type your password and click Enter.
8. Once you have entered your correct username and password, the UNIX prompt will display. At the prompt, enter the commands you would like to run.

Using X-Win32 to Connect to Mizar via SSH (Windows)

To create a new connection to mizar.usc.edu using X-Win32, follow the steps below:

1. From the Start menu, select All Programs, Internet Tools, and then X-Win32.
2. Select X-Config from the X-Win32 menu.
3. Under New Session menu on the Sessions tab, click Manual to begin session creation.
4. Select SSH under Connection Method. Click Next to continue.



5. Enter the connection information into the New Session box:



• For Session Name, enter BCF.
• For Host Name, enter mizar.usc.edu.
• For Port, enter 22.
• For Login, enter your USC username.
• For Command, enter the command to be executed.

The command to be executed for the session must include a display parameter. Typically, this is provided as follows:

xcommand -display string:X.Y [options]
where xcommand is the X-Windows client command. Replace string with the actual name of the computer whose X-server is to receive the client display. X.Y is a code indicating screen on which it will be displayed. If you are on campus, an example would be mymachine.usc.edu:0.0 (if your machine were named mymachine).

If you are working from an off-campus or ResNet connection, you can use the string $MYIP:0.0

The command above becomes /usr/usc/X11/bin/xterm -display $MYIP:0.0

You can make modifications to the way your xterm window appears by placing the following on the command field:/usr/usc/X11/bin/xterm -display $MYIP:0.0 -ah -bg Black -fg Gray -ls -sb -sl 500 -geom 80x24+0+0 -T "xterm"

Please refer to the command man xterm for information about these modifications.

If you would like your entire X session to be tunneled and encrypted with SSH, use the command /usr/openwin/bin/xterm -ah -bg Black -fg Gray -ls -sb -sl 500 -geom 80x24+0+0 -T "xterm" Using the command without the -display flag can be slower and problematic, but will securely encrypt all traffic.

6. Click Save to create the session. It will now be listed under the Sessions tab.
7. Click OK to close X-Config.

To start your mizar.usc.edu X-Windows session:

1. Select Shared Sessions from the X-Win32 function menu.
2. Select BCF from the list of pre-configured hosts.
3. Enter your USC username and password.
4. If your login and password are accepted, X-Win32 will display an xterm window. From there, you may run other X-windows applications.

NOTE: The directory /usr/usc/X11/bin must be in your UNIX path environment variable to run most common X-applications.

Using OpenSSH to Connect to Mizar via SSH (Macintosh)

1. Open the Utilities folder within the Application folder.

2. Double-click theTerminal icon.

3. A window will display the following information:

Last login: (Date of last login) on ttyp1
Welcome to Darwin!
local-host:~ local-user$

4. At the command prompt ($), type the following:

   ssh <usc-username>@<mizar.usc.edu>

5. A window requesting your password will appear. Enter your password to log in and access your account.

You can connect to USC and gain remote access to applications by using X11 x-windowing software. For information on how to use X11, please refer to the X11 for Mac OS X page.

Getting Help

For more information on using SSH at USC, please see our SSH Documentation.

For additional assistance or questions on mizar.usc.edu or your Basic Compute Facility (BCF) account, please contact the ITS Customer Support Center at 213-740-5555 or by sending an email to consult@usc.edu.