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Remote Login and File Transfer
SSH (Window's OS)  |  SSH File Transfer (Window's OS)  |  Creating an .htaccess file

Departmental Remote Login Servers---

Redhat Linux:     linux.phys.psu.edu
UNIX (Solaris 10):    solaris.phys.psu.edu

SSH Hostkeys

SSH/SCP Java Applet (For remote users without an ssh/scp client)

How-To for Secure Shell Client (Window's)---

Click Start/Programs/SSH Secure Shell/Secure Shell Client.

Click Quick Connect on the next screen. (or press the Spacebar or Enter to connect)

Enter the Host Name of the machine you are connecting to and your Physics User Name in the pop-up screen. Click Connect.

Enter your Physics password on the password screen. Click OK. If the following screen pops open, click Yes to save the new host key to the local database.

You are now connected via Secure Shell. Notice the host name in the titlebar.

When you are done with the session type Exit to terminate the connection. Close the window.



How-To for SSH Secure File Transfer Client---

Click Start/Programs/SSH Secure Shell/Secure File Transfer Client

Click Quick Connect on the next screen. Enter the Host Name of the machine you are connecting to and your Physics User Name in the pop-up screen. Click Connect.

Enter your Physics password on the password screen. Click OK. If the following screen pops open, click Yes to save the new host key to the local database.

The resulting window is the remote machine. Open up another window on the local machine. Drag and Drop from one window to the other as desired.

When you are done moving files, click File/Disconnect and click Yes to confirm. Close the window.



How-To for Using .htaccess to Restrict Access to Webpages---

Please make sure you are setting this up in the directory that you want password protected. Access is restricted by directory so all files in the same directory are protected.

Use ssh to login to colossus.phys.psu.edu.

  • Window's users, see the how-to on this page for using ssh to connect to colossus.
Change directory to the directory that is to be protected. To password protect the www folder for Physics username johnsmith enter the command
  • cd /home/johnsmith/www/
Create a directory within the www directory named private
  • mkdir private
Change directory to the private directory that you just created.
  • cd private
Run the command htpasswd -c .htpasswd username to create a file with the first username. Username can be anything you choose and has nothing to do with your Physics username. The following command will create a new file called .htpasswd in /home/johnsmith/www/private and create a user named smitty in the file.
  • htpasswd -c .htpasswd smitty
Enter a password and confirm it when prompted.
To add additional usernames use the same command without the -c switch. To add username jones use
  • htpasswd .htpasswd jones
To remove a username use the -D (capital D) switch. To remove username jones use the command
  • htpasswd -D .htpasswd jones
Create a .htaccess file in the directory that you want to protect. This must be done manually.
  • cd /home/johnsmith/www/
  • vi .htaccess
  • Include the text below, skip the line after AuthTypeBasic:

      AuthUserFile /home/johnsmith/www/private/.htpasswd
      AuthGroupFile /dev/null
      AuthName EnterPasswordForPrivateArea
      AuthType Basic

      require valid-user
Be sure to use https:// on all webpages when sending passwords, for example use
  • https://www.phys.psu.edu/johnsmith/blahblah





To report problems or request service, please send email to help@phys.psu.edu or call (814) 865-3024.