How to connect using SSH

SSH (Secure Shell) is the most widely used protocol for securely accessing and managing remote computers from a terminal. It creates an encrypted connection between your local machine and a remote server, ensuring that login credentials, commands, and transferred data cannot be intercepted or modified by third parties.

To connect via SSH you need the server hostname (or IP address) and the username. SwissGPU servers use the default SSH port 22.

At SwissGPU we assign a mnemonic domain to each server in the format name.swissgpu.ch, where name identifies the specific machine. This makes it easier to remember and connect to servers without needing to recall IP addresses.

Connect to Your Server

Open a terminal and run the following command:

ssh ubuntu@<pcname>.swissgpu.ch

Troubleshooting

If a server was reinstalled after you previously connected to it, the SSH host key will have changed. In this situation SSH may display a host key verification warning.

Remove the old host key from your local known_hosts file and connect again.

ssh-keygen -R <pcname>.swissgpu.ch

After removing the old entry, connect again and accept the new host key when prompted.