SSH Access

The ODU CS Department provides SSH (Secure SHell) access to Linux and Unix servers for CS students. SSH allows you to securely connect to these machines, and use terminal commands to interact with them.

Unix Account

To gain SSH access, you must use the same CS username / password that you would use to log into our Windows machines.
There is further documentation on this on our Account page.

SSH Clients

To connect using SSH, you must have an SSH client installed on your machine. Linux and Mac have an SSH client ready out of the box, but the Windows 10/11 clients needs to be enabled before it can be used.

For Windows 10 (Fall 2018 build or newer)

Open Settings.
Go to Apps, then Apps and Feature, then Optional Features.
Find the entry for OpenSSH Client (Client, not Server!), click on it, and then click Install.
Then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

For Windows 11

Open Settings.
Go to System, then Optional Features
Click View features
Find the entry for OpenSSH Client (Client, not Server!), click the check box next to it, and then click Next.
Click Add and wait for it to install

How to SSH

open a teminal application ("cmd" on windows, "terminal" on linux)
type ssh <username>@linux.cs.odu.edu.

replace <username> with your CS midas username, eg: cs_user
You will then be prompted for your CS password.

Common SSH Problems

WARNING: REMOVE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!

If receive a message with this title when trying to SSH into our servers, this was a change on our end.
To fix the issue do the following:

Locate your .ssh folder
Linux: /home/{user}/.ssh
Windows: C:\Users\{user}\.ssh
MacOS: /Users/{user}/.ssh

Replace {user} with your username
Open the known_hosts file
Find the line which starts with the IP or hostname of the server you are attempting to connect to
Delete the entire line

Available Linux/Unix Servers

Once you have obtained an SSH client, you can visit the Unix and Linux Services page for the information on the available servers and their hostnames for connection.

You must be connected to the CS VPN to connect!