What is SSH (Secure Shell)? - Definition & Meaning

Definition

SSH (Secure Shell) is an encrypted network protocol that allows you to securely connect to a remote server. It provides a secured command-line interface for managing servers, executing commands, and transferring files over an unsecured network.

Technical explanation

SSH works on the basis of asymmetric cryptography with a key pair: a public key (placed on the server) and a private key (kept on your local machine). When you connect, the server verifies your identity through a cryptographic challenge that can only be answered with your private key — without sending the password over the network. SSH uses port 22 by default and supports multiple authentication methods: password authentication (less secure), SSH key authentication (recommended), and certificate-based authentication. The protocol encrypts all communication with algorithms like AES-256-GCM, ChaCha20-Poly1305, or AES-256-CTR. Beyond interactive terminal sessions, SSH also supports SCP and SFTP for secure file transfer, port forwarding for tunneling network traffic, and agent forwarding for passing SSH keys to intermediate servers. Configuration is done via the ~/.ssh/config file for client settings and /etc/ssh/sshd_config on the server.

How OpenClaw Installeren applies this

OpenClaw Installeren uses SSH for fully automated installation and configuration of your AI assistant on your VPS. During the installation process, you connect to your Europese cloud server via SSH, after which our script automatically installs and configures all software. After installation, you use SSH for maintenance, updates, and configuration adjustments.

Practical examples

• A system administrator logging into a Europese cloud VPS via SSH to check the status of a Docker container with "docker ps" and view log files with "docker logs".
• An automated deployment script connecting to the production server via SSH to roll out a new version of the chatbot application without downtime.
• A developer using SSH port forwarding to securely access a database running on the server from their local machine, as if the database were running locally.

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