SSH, like telnet, gives you "command prompt" access to your virtual server. The difference is security. With SSH, your login and password are encrypted.
You can download a secure shell program from the following locations. For a free version, and for users outside the United States, go to this site. Here you will find the totally free, internationally available ttssh. Two companies sell client versions of SSH. They are Datafellows and SecureCRT.
For MS-DOS users, the concept of a command prompt will be somewhat familiar to you already, only the commands are different. While it's not a requirement that you learn Linux to operate your virtual server, there are a lot of good books on the subject. For those who are interested, we recommend "Unix for Dummies" by IDG Books.
To connect to the server through SSH, use your domain name as the host name. You will be prompted for a user id and password. This is the same as your main FTP user id and password.
Most often, SSH is used to change permission settings for running
custom cgi scripts, but it has many useful functions. Some of the programs
available at the shell prompt are pico (an easy to use text editor),
vi (a not so easy to use, but standard text editor),
mail (a primitive email program),
pine and elm (slightly more powerful email programs),
ftp (to FTP onto other sites), telnet (to telnet onto other sites),
and lynx (a text-only WWW browser).
pico
Pico is a simple editor that allows you edit files directly on your server. This is
epecially helpful with some of your virtual server's configuration files. Pico has
a simple menu at the bottom of the window. All you need to know is that the "^" mark
that proceeds each of the menu options means that you need to hold down the control key
before selecting the specified hotkey. The best way to learn how to use this program
is to try it. Type "pico" from the shell prompt to start the program, or "pico filename"
to open a file in the current directory for editing.
