How to connect using SSH / SFTP

Secure Shell and Secure File Transfer Protocol are the recommended tools for accessing some of our services

Windows

Popular SSH/SFTP clients for Windows include PuTTY and WinSCP.

How to connect with PuTTY SSH

  1. Open PuTTY
  2. Type the name of the server you are connecting to in the Host Name field, check that the Connection type is set to SSH, then select Open
  3. If you receive a security alert about the server host key not cached or not matching then check the key in the warning text against the table below – if the keys match then click Accept and continue
  4. At the login prompt enter your Oxford username in the format abcd1234 and press Enter
  5. At the password prompt enter your SSO password and press Enter. Your password will not show on the screen
  6. You will now be at the SSH prompt ready to enter commands

How to transfer files with WinSCP

  1. Open WinSCP
  2. At the Login window complete the fields as shown here then select Login:
    Field name Value
    File protocol SFTP
    Host name Name of the server you are connecting to
    User name Your Oxford username in the format abcd1234
    Password Your SSO password
  3. If you receive a security alert about the server host key not cached or not matching then check the key in the warning text against the table below – if the keys match then click Accept and continue
  4. You will now see the main WinSCP window with your local files on the left and your server files on the right. Browse to find the files or folders you want to transfer on one side, and the location you want to copy them to on the other, then drag-and-drop the files or folders across
  5. If you are prompt by an Upload settings form then select the option Do not show this dialog box again and select OK

Further information on using WinSCP is available in the official WinSCP guides.

macOS

macOS includes a built-in SSH client. Popular SFTP clients include CyberDuck.

How to connect using SSH

  1. Open a Terminal window and connect as shown in the example below, replacing abcd1234 with your Oxford username and servername.ox.ac.uk with the name of the server you are connecting to.  Then provide your SSO password.
    $ ssh abcd1234@servername.ox.ac.uk
  2. If you receive a warning about host authenticity then check the key in the warning text against the table below – if the keys match then type yes and press Enter and then complete your login
  3. You will now be at the SSH prompt ready to enter commands

How to transfer files with SFTP using CyberDuck

  1. Open CyberDuck and select Open Connection
  2. Complete the connection screen fields as shown below, then select Connect
    Field name Value
    Protocol SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol)
    Server Name of the server you are connecting to
    Username Your Oxford username in the format abcd1234
    Password Your SSO password

  3. If you receive a security alert about the server host key not cached or not matching then check the key in the warning text against the table below – if the keys match then click Accept and continue

  4. Type your SSO password and select Authenticate when prompted
  5. You will now see your remote files and can drag-and-drop the files or folders to/from any Finder window
Linux

All popular Linux distributions have built-in command line SSH and SFTP clients. You may need to install these packages first if you’re using a small footprint Linux system – see documentation for your distribution on how to do this.

How to connect using SSH

  1. From the command prompt, connect using the command shown below, replacing abcd1234 with your Oxford username and servername.ox.ac.uk with the name of the server to connect to.  You will then be prompted for your SSO password.
    $ ssh abcd1234@servername.ox.ac.uk
  2. If you receive a warning about host authenticity then check the key in the warning text against the table below – if the keys match then type yes, press Enter and then complete your login
  3. You will now be at the SSH prompt ready to enter commands

How to transfer files with SFTP

  1. Open a terminal window and change into the local directory that you want to receive or send files in
  2. Connect to the SFTP server as shown in the example below, replacing abcd1234 with your Oxford username and servername.ox.ac.uk with the name of the server to connect to.  You will then be prompted for your SSO password.
    $ sftp abcd1234@servername.ox.ac.uk
  3. If you receive a warning about host authenticity then check the key in the warning text against the table below – if the keys match then type yes, press Enter and then complete your login
  4. You will now be at the SFTP prompt ready to enter commands. Common commands are:
    Command Purpose
    ls List files in the remote directory
    lls List files in the local directory
    get filename Download filename to the local directory
    put filename Upload filename to the remote directory
    rm filename Delete filename from the remote directory
    exit Close SFTP session
    help Display a list of available commands
ChromeOS

You will need to add the Secure Shell Chrome extension which supersedes the older Chrome SSH app. At this time there is no convenient solution for SFTP on ChromeOS.

How to connect using SSH

  1. Open Secure Shell and select Connection dialogue
  2. Complete the fields as show below then select Connect
    Field name Value
    free form text Name to save these settings for re-use
    username Your Oxford username in the format abcd1234
    hostname Name of the server you are connecting to
  3. If you receive a warning about host authenticity then check the key in the warning text against the table below – if the keys match then type yes and press Enter and then complete your login
  4. Enter your SSO password when prompted and press Enter
  5. You will now be at the SSH prompt ready to enter commands

Further information

Current RSA/DSA server keys - updated 05/08/2021

Server Key type Fingerprint(s)
linux.ox.ac.uk ED25519

SHA256:drwDmdzn77h+qGqOQLdMXTWZzRbfY/FrjM7TJ+Ygpu4

MD5 e8:ac:bc:7b:6f:aa:e4:8d:61:85:1c:a5:3a:88:d9:74
linux.ox.ac.uk ECDSA

SHA256:gKdZ2orLAUZgrws9JE32u/mQ/8Mk4RIDGuBUugxhxso

MD5 c9:cc:85:b3:e0:97:5e:32:11:cc:c5:b2:50:0f:80:f5
linux.ox.ac.uk RSA

SHA256:G8QGcbMPZeksSgQT+5Yy9/M1Kdlz4l/dm5K93xix5JQ

MD5 12:05:75:ee:73:a7:6d:3d:27:f3:fd:32:c7:5d:9b:09
linux.ox.ac.uk DSA

SHA256:sgU76LVV6zX0XSw9uKK2Q5fpmW1U1IZWIwlJDN1bjr8

MD5 83:62:92:01:52:c6:d1:ed:f4:99:40:6a:e8:2f:95:e2
access.nsms.ox.ac.uk ED25519 MD5 d8:bc:f1:d9:8f:6f:3e:0a:50:0e:32:9e:b6:95:7b:8f
access.nsms.ox.ac.uk ECDSA MD5 5e:ea:11:06:ef:da:5f:9d:fc:6c:4f:48:fe:25:17:27
access.nsms.ox.ac.uk RSA MD5 69:a8:be:25:13:16:14:b3:e3:e9:37:14:9b:bd:4d:b2
access.nsms.ox.ac.uk DSA MD5 c0:bd:3d:c2:a0:c1:e5:15:1c:08:7a:7a:ea:04:ab:94

 

Note that on some clients the fingerprints may be displayed with one or two “=” signs at the end. This is padding and can be ignored

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