How do I connect to the School of Math servers via ssh?

ssh (Secure Shell) is a program that allows a user to log into a remote computer and to execute commands on that remote computer. It provides secure encrypted communications between two untrusted hosts over an insecure network. Users with active School of Math user accounts can access various resources through our SSH gateway (ssh.math.ias.edu) using their assigned IAS username and password.

How to use SSH from a Windows computer:

  1. Download and install PuTTY from here.
  2. Launch PuTTY.
  3. In the Host Name (or IP address) box, enter ssh.math.ias.edu.
  4. In the Connection type subsection, make sure SSH is selected.
  5. Select Session in the Category menu to return to the main screen. Enter IAS - Math in the Saved Sessions box.
  6. Press the "Save" button to save those settings.

Now that you have the configuration to our SSH gateway saved, you can begin using PuTTY to connect it.

  1. Launch PuTTY.
  2. Locate and double-click on the IAS - Math entry in the Saved Sessions section.
  3. PuTTY will prompt you for your IAS username and password.
  4. Assuming your login was successful, you will be connected to your IAS home directory.

Note: ssh.math.ias.edu is the only host you may connect to from off campus.

How to use SSH from a Mac OS X or Linux computer:

  1. Launch the Terminal application.
  2. Enter the following command: ssh username@ssh.math.ias.edu where username is is the part of your IAS email address before the @ sign. For example, if your email address was jdoe@ias.edu, your IAS username is jdoe.
  3. Enter the password you use to log in.
  4. Assuming your login was successful, you will be connected to your IAS home directory.

Once you are connected to ssh.math.ias.edu, you can ssh into other School of Math servers by entering the following command: ssh username@server.math.ias.edu where server is the name of the server that contains the resource that you wish to use.

[Note: The ftp and telnet protocols are disabled on our servers for security reasons. Secure versions of these programs are available. The ftp protocol has been replaced by scp (secure copy) and telnet has been replaced by ssh (Secure Shell).]

Note: ssh.math.ias.edu is the only host you may connect to from off campus.

Do you want to checking your IAS email using pine?

If you are interested in reading your IAS email after you are already ssh'd into ssh.math.ias.edu, please see visit the How do I view my IAS Email using (al)pine? webpage.