in reply to Connecting to a remote host

As a side note for if you go with ssh, you'll probably want to set up key-based authentication so your ssh commands will handle the logins in an automated fashion. To do so, on machine1, run: 
ssh-keygen -t rsa

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Then, go into ~/.ssh, and scp the file id_rsa.pub to machine2. Then, login to machine2, and do a 
cat id_rsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

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That should let all your ssh connections from machine1 to machine2, using those accounts, use the key-based authentication instead of prompting for a password. I hope this is useful.

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Re: If you do go with ssh..
by rupesh (Hermit) on Apr 04, 2003 at 13:26 UTC
    great! but the thing is, i have to talk to the remote script in Windows NT...where i think ssh wont work?
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      If you're using windows, I recommend installing a package called Cygwin, which gets you a decent subset of the goodness of Unix. It's free, it's fairly easy to install, and depending on what you install, you could use XFree86, perl, bash, gcc, and all that other fun stuff (including ssh).
[reply]
      I don't have problems running ssh from Cygwin, which, AFAIK, runs also on Windows NT.

      Abigail

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[d/l]
        hi,
        in my workplace, we've been connecting to the remote host in unix using ssh for many years.
        Now, the new requirement is to do the samin windows.
        we dont want to use third party tools like cygwin, because, in which case we would have to do the same to many servers in the remote location.

        Since we've already done some work in perl, we'd like to continue to execute resident scripts on the remote servers using sockets or any other possible and effiecient method.
        Thanks!
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Re: If you do go with ssh..
by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Apr 04, 2003 at 14:18 UTC
    Yeah, it won't ask for a password then, but it will ask for a passphrase instead. Now, it's possible to set an empty passphrase, such that it won't ask for one, but I strongly advice against that. That will weaken your security, because if machine1 is compromised, machine2 is as well.

    Abigail

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      you can use key-agent and only have to type your password once per login and still keep your keys encrypted.

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      Surely it weakens security because a single return is often the first thing Evil People will try if they do manage to get a copy of your private key.

      If they've compromised the machine running the SSH client you're in trouble regardless of the authentication method used since the Evil Person can just install a key logger and get your passwords that way.

[reply]
        You may be in trouble, yes. But there's a big difference between able to continue the attack right away with a different machine, and being able to install software, log and gather data, and come back for a return visit undetected.

        Captain Picard still prefers his shields being at 40% over switching them off at the first sign of damage. ;-)

        Abigail

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