Understanding SSH: How to Access Remote Machines
Posted on May 17, 2025 by admin — 2 min
Imagine you buy hosting or create a VM in the cloud. Each machine that you buy or rent has an IP address. That typically has the form x.x.x.x where x > 0 and x < 255.
Example:
192.168.1.1
Once you get the VM, you have the choice to install an operating system on it.
The norm is that each host will have a single IP.
If you want to access this machine from your laptop and run some commands, you need a command shell that allows you to run instructions that the computer you bought can execute.
One common way to talk to this machine is via SSH.
(Other options include RDP, VNC, Telnet, etc.)
What is SSH?
SSH is a two-part software system: a client and a server.
- The SSH server is installed on the host machine that you just purchased (also called the remote machine).
- The SSH client is installed on your local machine (your laptop, workstation, or even a mobile phone).
Once installed, you can securely connect from your client (your device) to the server (the VM) and start executing commands remotely.
Stay tuned for how to use the ssh command to connect, generate keys, and harden your connection!