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Smartphones For Text SSH Use Re-Revisited
Kainaw writes "This was asked in 2005 and 2008. I think it should be revisited yet again... With iPhone, Android, and Windows smartphones running around, which (if any) of them are well-suited to Unix/Linux server administration on the run? SSH is a must. A good screen resolution. A physical keyboard won't block the screen with a virtual keyboard. Many physical keyboards omit the numeric keys now, making the typing of numbers rather difficult. Nearly every smartphone has WiFi capability now. Some will do an X display through SSH tunnelling. So, pushing through all the bells and whistles that have nothing to do with effective server administration, what is left?"
i'm sure there out there, but the market is getting harder and harder to sort through. can anyone recommend a good one?
Hardware keyboard, ships with xterm, has easily accessible number keys, and no jailbreaking needed.
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Not sure about android, but MidpSSH works wonders on my Blackberry, they probably have an android version. Used it just last night in a bind!
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...these screen keyboards are just not suited to the sort of typing required for command line. IMHO.
I just got an Android 2.2 phone with wifi, ConnectBot seems to be the best ssh client so far.
Full Linux (either Maemo based on Debian or MeeGo based on Fedora), xterm - ability to run whatever you need from the command line, no problem having 32 windows running in parallel in a preemptive multitasking, you can compile with gcc/java straight on the phone, solid keyboard - a geek's dream I would say.
I second this. I have been using ConnectBot and it works great on my HTC Desire. Just don;t leave connections running in the background... it drinks battery like it's going out of style when you do that.
http://bbssh.org/wiki/en/Home
The author just released 2.0 with huge improvements. I've been using it for nearly half a year now, previously on a Storm and now on a Torch. It's great, it even works well with things like screen and irssi. It's great being able to login to my servers remotely anywhere, check screen sessions and even if I want to hop on IRC if need be! For those familiar with MidpSSH this is basicly it on steriods, but done properly.
...and specifically the touch UI one for Symbian S60v5. It's PuTTy. Oh, you want an URL with that... Try http://bd.kicks-ass.net/koodaus/putty/
ConnectBot has worked well for me...and never had any issues with it.
http://code.google.com/p/connectbot/
It runs real Linux with real root (out of the box). It has a real xterm and bash is installable. It runs xorg. It's a fantastic phone. However, it doesn't have separate number keys which can be a pain if you're typing a lot of numbers. A cool feature of the xterm is it puts Ctrl, Tab, Esc, PgUp, and PgDn on-screen to work with the physical keyboard. It's great for remote server administration. I wouldn't want to work on it all day, but it's not meant for that, either.
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I'm fairly happy with my cheap-ass HTC Slide running CyanogenMOD . You can get them for about half the price of the big expensive Android phones.
http://trumblings.blogspot.com/2010/11/migrating-to-android-for-palm-linux.html
Keyboard pic
The ConnectBot SSH client can do port forwarding, so you can set up a secure tunnel for androidVNC (which is probably better than X forwarding as far as maintaining persistent sessions across mobile networks go). The phone supports T-mobile HSDPA network, which can give you noticeably lower latency than EDGE / GPRS, and near-DSL speeds. Your ssh sessions stay connected in the background until you tell them to disconnect, and the keyboard is pretty comfortable to use.
Some random notes:
I've found Connectbot on Android to work quite well. Far as the typing goes, screen and keyboard size are always going to be an issue for commandline on a smartphone. If you need to do serious work, you need to bring your laptop along (and if you're often away from wifi when the need arises, consider a cell broadband card or tethering of your smartphone). But if you just need to check on something or run a script real quick, Connectbot will do the job just fine.
The physical keyboard on the phone is nice, I'm quite agreed that I wouldn't want to use up half my already limited screen with a virtual keyboard.
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iSSH on the iPhone might not be the best out there, but it does what it needs to do. I have a 3 watt cellular repeater on my car, which gives me 5 bars no matter where I am....
iPhone with iSSH by Zinger-Soft works great for me. You can use an external Bluetooth keyboard. Nice thing is, you can run the iPad version as well for the one price. www.zinger-soft.com
Has the current version of MidpSSH overcome the Blackberry's annoying tendancy to capitalize the first letter of the first word in the commands you type? I seem to recall you had to type your commands in to some intermediary console, rather than interact directly with the shell.
I don't care why you're posting AC
I'm pretty happy with my Epic. The physical keyboard is pretty good considering the space constraints, and, as many people have already suggested, ConnectBot is a fantastic SSH program with full support for key auth, the slightly bigger than normal screen is noticeably nice, and, at least in Austin, 4G connectivity is pretty widely available and speedy.
To ssh into my site, modify files, and reboot it remotely. I wouldn't say it was "well-suited" for it, though. More like "it's there if you have absolutely nothing else."
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I use SSH on my Nexus One every so often. I am not a sysadmin, just a linux enthusiast, but in my experience the lack of modifier and function keys makes tasks difficult, especially not having TAB for auto completion. But being able to have remote access from anyway is incredibly useful. I'd wager that a smart phone with a near full hardware keyboard would work just fine. Also I think something like the Galaxy Tab or iPad could have a full software keyboard and work because now you have the screen resolution to fit in a terminal and the keyboard. For when I need to do some more serious stuff on SSH I switch my phone into a WiFi access point to get my netbook on the net.
I believe MidpSSH is quite out of date, but Marc Paradise's BBSH is based on it, and it's a vast improvement.
Caveat Utilitor
My virtual keyboard is translucent, allowing the reading of the bright green text underneath. More than enough to edit a config file and restart a service. Nothing beyond an emergency warrants me using my phone like that.
ConnectBot on a Google Nexus One. It just works. You can configure the display to 40x23 or 42x24 or whatever font fits best on screen versus your desired font size. The trackball acts as a control key and alt key: one press = CTRL, double press = ALT. (a must for Emacs and vi users)
My only complaint is that it doesn't remember passwords the way AndFTP does (another excellent tool, by the way). I'd like to not have to type in the darned password every time, but oh well, it's a lot better than no ssh.
It's also kinda neat that you can view the scrollback simply by dragging the screen back. Why don't all computers work that way?
Last, and best of all, it's a free app. I haven't tried the other ssh clients out there, honestly, but since this one works, I haven't felt the need.
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The G1 keyboard is great. All the symbols I need are on the keyboard (including pipe and backtick), the numbers don't require modifiers, and both modifiers (shift and alt for symbols) are on each side of the keyboard. I've been hoping for a newer phone to have a keyboard like this, but I just haven't found anything close.
Honestly, if you SSH in a LOT using a phone will anger you a lot. I got a tiny netbook with a WWAN card (inside!)
Dell mini 10 with a pciE wwan card works great. and it is small enough to carry with me everywhere.
I'd end up killing people if I had to spend more that 30 seconds working in SSH on a phone.
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As long as you're sufficiently nearsighted (or corrected enough to focus at a few inches away), you can't beat the iPhone for screen resolution. There is no better pocketable display for reading itty bitty text.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
X through SSH for server admin? Really? If someone asked for this on one of my boxes I wouldn't let them touch it with a 10 foot pole. Best car analogy I can come up with is a mechanic who doesn't know how to drive a stick well enough to put my car on the lift. Funnily enough we have a DBA who insists on using remote X sessions, then opens up the console in the X session to do his work and wonders why we have memory overhead issues.
Also, I used an old Treo 600 for on the run server admin using TuSSH back in 2003/4. No 802.11 on it which I found annoying at times (once it was available on other/newer smartphones), but GPRS was fine for SSH. Full keyboard, good enough display that I didn't feel limited by it. If 6-7 years later smartphones aren't at least as capable, something's very wrong.
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Amen.. ConnectBot is great. All the features and very little lameness or clutter.
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I have an HTC Touch Pro 2 and it has a keyboard that has never been matched in a modern smartphone, as far as I know. It runs Windows Mobile 6.5, which is a dead OS, but PuTTY runs great.
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I use this quite frequently the app is awesome but the keys on the phone suck. I have found that if i really need to do some work it's just easier to tether the phone to a laptop
Use a netbook, or a laptop. God, I wouldn't want to think what tab completion and a dodgy touchscreen keyboard on a critical server could do to a shell.
If the machine is up enough to SSH in, it's not an emergency. If you truly are the only person who can log into it (locally or remotely) to fix the problem, please don't do it from a smartphone. Actually log in, take your time and fix the problem rather than bashing out commands in some substandard SSH client that will probably be insecure.
It's 2011. I'm never more than a couple of hundred yards from a Wifi connection, never more than a few hundred yards from a computer that I can use if I really have nothing at all and rarely without some sort of computer access unless (and this is important) I don't want to be disturbed and will not fix the machine then anyway (i.e. holiday or weekends when I'm not being paid to do that). If some major emergency crops up, chances are that I need to be there, or that someone else is already there to notice and fix the problem with barely a hint as to the correct command. Anything else *CAN* wait until I can get on a proper terminal and/or until I actually stand in front of the machine.
I honestly can't think of a scenario that would demand SSH access from a single person, on the fly, such that they don't get time to go to a computer or arrive at the physical location of the computer in question, that doesn't hint at poor IT management anyway.
None of the servers that I access accept password-based login, they all rely on pre-distributed certificates.
Beyond Maemo / Meego, do any phone-based SSH apps support certificate login?
I've been using ConnectBot since I got my N1. It's a great application.
ConnectBot...
If you can wait a few months Perhaps the Motorola Atrix is just what you are looking for. It doesn't have a physical keyboard attached but comes with a dock that looks like a netbook with full keyboard and LCD. It has a dual core processor and a desktop like interface when docked.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
I use connectbot I haven't done tunneling, but it has the option.
Admittedly, I seldom do any ssh via the phone, its a last resort backup for me. Came in really handy while I was de-racking a machine that I was removing from colo, and there wasn't a crash cart in sight. I just ssh'd in and halted the machine. Aside from that, I seldom use it.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
Even though everyone's pain threshold is different, please mention tolerable duration of use. For me, I've got an iPhone 3 with Touch Term Pro. There are some idiosyncracies with its onscreen keyboards, but once learned, its decent. This is sufficient for short tasks, but I wouldn't want to use this setup for more than about 7 minutes. This is sufficient for checking service status and kicking off one or two things, but troubleshooting is right out.
Third for ConnectBot. You just have to get to learn the key combinations for |, Esc, Crtl+C, Ctrl+D, and whatever character the keyboard doesn't have already and you're all set. It automatically saves new connections and you can configure it to connect to a different port if your server isn't listening on port 22. Also, you can open a localhost connection as well; you'll need to be rooted and have something like BusyBox to do some things, but I haven't had to call BusyBox to ping at least.
Funnily enough we have a DBA who insists on using remote X sessions, then opens up the console in the X session to do his work and wonders why we have memory overhead issues.
Blame Oracle for this one. Although it can run in a CLI environment, it cannot be installed on a headless system. You have to install a Graphical Desktop in order to install Oracle. I could not believe it until I started working at a company that could afford the outrageous prices Oracle charges. (My other pet peeve with Oracle is that during the install process, you have to run a script as root. It cannot be sudo, it cannot be as a user with root privileges, it must be run as a user named "root.")
Once some DBAs get used to that environment, they forget that other databases do not need a GUI environment and demand that GNOME or KDE be installed on the database server.
Great civilizations have lived and died on false theories. Don't mess up mine with a few facts.
Also, search for "full keyboard" on the market for a replacement software keyboard that gives lots of useful extra keys, such as a dpad and ctrl-key shortcuts (so you can type ^C with a single keypress)
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Just prefix each command with :; and the capitalization problem goes away. At first that quirk used to drive me crazy, but there's no need to use a secondary console.
Nokia E90 + PuTTY for S60 works for me. It's got physical QWERTY keyboard and 800 x 352 screen resolution is enough for decent terminal sizes. I use 6x13 font for 133x27.
I also use Connectbot. I have a Droid so the physical keyboard makes it extremely easy to use. And there's Teamviewer out for Android now also that does a VNC-type connection.
It has its own issues (mostly limitations due to the iPhone not having a physical keyboard so you have a lot of floating menus that have to be tapped to toggle on/off). Although it's not free -- $9 for pro, $4 for lite -- at that price I don't have crazy expectations that it will grant world peace or anything... works for me. http://www.ajidev.com/touchterm/index.html
I really love the tunnelled VNC that iSSH offers. I use this a lot to get to my home machine. Also the keyboard and associated list of all available command and function buttons is really nice. I also like the "mouse" buttons. Those are very nice instead of tapping the screen which can be "fat-fingered." Nothing worse than choosing "close" instead of "save". I also like the fact that it works over 3G so I can truely get to my home machine anywhere, anytime.
I use connectbot a lot, but the android soft keyboard sucks for programmers -- it's possible to create custom input methods, has anybody done so?
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I had a Nokia running Symbian back in 2007 and used PuTTY. It was very clunky and not user friendly (not to mention typing via T9 is NOT fun!). In 2008 I switched to the BlackJack 2 running Windows Mobile and yet another version of PuTTY. The miniature keyboard made it difficult to type and I often had problems with type-o's (I have giant thumbs). Windows Mobile also liked to drop data connections so I upgraded to an iPhone in 2009 and found TouchTerm. My biggest beef with PuTTY was I couldn't store the key on the phone and import it into PuTTY. That may have changed now, nonetheless, that was my past experience. What I love about TouchTerm is that I can generate an SSH key from within TouchTerm then place it in my authorized_keys file. TouchTerm on the iPhone works great and when I'm on the go; I take my Laser Bluetooth Keyboard (http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/8193/) with me and it makes typing SO much easier. The software keyboard works well and I have no complaints. For what it's worth, that's my two cents.
it'd be great if someone wrote a good virtual keyboard to use with it, complete with modifier keys, tab and a number row. Swyping my commands is an interesting experience, but I'd prefer an easier approach :p
I like my samsung Epic for it. There's a version of connectbot built with mappings for that particular phone at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=813176 that adds support for just about every key you need--control, escape, etc. I've used vi on it pretty comfortably.
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
I mean it works - but actually doing sysadmin with it would be pretty painful - its more of a novelty than anything
I'm really tempted by a Pre, but from what I can see there is no SIP client other than a command-line thing. I use SIP via WiFi to make calls from my (old and crappy) N80 most of the time, because it's cheaper than going over the mobile network, so I wouldn't want to lose this feature in a new phone. I don't suppose there's one hidden somewhere that I couldn't find?
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I use ConnectBot. It can run in the background and provide tunnels for just about anything you want.
You can even set the proxy of your 3G access point to the local endpoint of an ssh tunnel.
They all support ssh and support it well (also VNC and tons of other admin tools). Just pick one with a keyboard you like.
Having a trackball or optical sensor is also useful, in particular if you want to run VNC and other remote graphical applications, since you need a mouse for those (touch is usually used for pan and zoom).
when using the "input" window to type, it does indeed capitalize still, at least the version I have, but once interactive in a shell or bounced from that shell to a router or somewhere else, no capitalization on the shell typing...
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Thanks, I'll have to scope it out.
Walk with Music;
I use ConnectBot on my Samsung Moment. Has a physical keyboard and works great, can do pubkey authentication, all the bells and whistles. Big thumbs up... ConnectBot is an extremely well-designed and open-source app.
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A hard keyboard + ConnectBot make my Samsung Epic a good fit...
I'm not sure if this is the case with most carriers but Telus blocks the std ssh port on their network, making this mostly moot.
ConnectBot can open a port that your application can tunnel through. What I really want is a way to tunnel the browser and maybe even email on my android for when I am using a public insecure wifi point, but I haven't run across anything even remotely close....
http://www.toremote.com/ssh -Destructions for connect bot port forwarding
"DENIAL"-How an optimist keeps from becoming a pessimist- \ \
Try your volume buttons. I don't know if this is dependent on what phone you have, so just try it :)
But it DOES remember SSH keys, which can have a null password.
Did the bus get your information OK in the end?
I believe that I read the gingerbread keyboard is milti-touch capable (not on my nexus one with a custom firmware though), if so I expect a keyboard with ctrl and although pretty shortly.
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You still don't get access to sockets on WP7, so you can't really do a proper terminal emulator.
Uses the armel Debian userland in a disk image and chroot.
http://pavelmachek.livejournal.com/73828.html
Been something actually making me thinking of finally getting a smart phone.
Does any free option exist for the iPod Touch or iPhone?
install connectbot on in, and happy SSHing.
it uses the right side alt and shift keys in clever ways to extend the keyboard, also uses the trackpad's central button as ctrl, so sending ctrl+c or ctrl+d is easy. it can even import a private key from a file and/or generate a key and export the public part to include in an authorized_keys file.
not everything is flowers tho.
i'm still using version r484 from march 2010 because versions after that have a badly broken copy/paste. anything after r484, the only way to copy/paste reliably is using touch, r484 allows use of the trackpad to navigate, mark and copy.
What ? Me, worry ?
ConnectBot on Android with an HTC Hero works fine for my mobile SSH needs. I use it nearly every day. However my needs are simple; simple command line stuff and reading my email with pine (yes pine) to a NetBSD server (sdf.org).
As mentioned elsewhere in these posts, give BBSSH a try. It does not have this annoying tendency. What you type in your blackberry keyboard is what you get and if you want to use caps you need to hold down the shift key just like a real keyboard. I cannot stress how amazing BBSSH is, once you start to really get use to it and learn about swipes (literally almost like gestures of a sorts) it's great and quickly I can use it almost as fast as a putty/xterm session.
ConnectBot still doesn't work with the HTC Hero. Any key which is invoked by holding your finger down for a bit results in two keystrokes being registered.
2005? I remember asking this question in 2000, when I got my first Kyocera Smartphone. Hell, even before that I had a modem for my Palm 5 running ttssh.
I remember finding a quiet spot at the Hammerstein Ballroom during a String Cheese Incident show to log into the servers @ Exodus and restart the AFS server, then all of the WebLogic boxes on my palm pilot.
It seemed so esoteric then, these days it's just quaint.
I love MidpSSH :)
It works flawlessly for my needs, I use it to remotely administer a Nortel CS1000M PBX when I'm in the field and need quick access to look up a TN or disu/enlu.
I used MidpPSSH on my BB 7105t back in 2006.
My G1 runs CyanogenMod 6.1.0, and does SSH out of the box. You can find one for $50 in CL, root it and load any of several recovery images and ROMs that will let you configure WiFi without a SIM, and you got yourself an entirely usable SSH terminal. Other Android phones may do this also. If you can get a MyTouch (Magic), do that instead, the G1 has serious memory limitations and you really need the 2708 hack to make it stable.
Bonus points for having a minimal browser that can get you into forums and do serious research with nothing but WiFi.
More bonus points if you can make your 'real' phone a hotspot and then you can use the 'spare' SSH phone via that. I do this a lot. EDGE is plenty fast enough.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
It's a bit oldskool but the G1 keyboard has all the numbers on a separate row. A quick google image search shows a few other models with full keyboards too.
ConnectBot + HTC Desire Z rocks. Works like a charm.
not sure if you saw my reply elsewhere, but there's an epic specific build of connectbot that you might enjoy here: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1938638&cid=34776884
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
I know that too well. I just keep a USB cable with its D+/D- lines hooked together + gender changer + USB battery handy.
If you want something in the case, there are always the Mugen batteries.
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My only complaint is that it doesn't remember passwords the way AndFTP does (another excellent tool, by the way). I'd like to not have to type in the darned password every time, but oh well, it's a lot better than no ssh.
In ConnectBot you can press 'menu' and 'Manage Pubkeys' where you can generate RSA keys of which you can append the public key to your remote ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
There's an app for wifi proxy, couldn't you use that plus SSH forwarding to accomplish what you want?
App is asproxy.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
I have the Epic 4g and I use it to ssh into my Linux terminals all the time. Phones great, fast, has a hard keyboard, nice, big, widely spaced keys. Now if only Samsung would get off their collective asses and release the froyo update already. (I'm using connectbot as my client, btw)
Am i missing something with full keyboard? It took me 4 key presses to get ctrl+c
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
I've had my T-Mobile G1 since Android 1.0 and I've always had SSH on it. I use "ConnectBot" and it works well enough, and it allows port forwarding. VNC can be a little more tricky, but I haven't looked in over a year.
The G1 has a great keyboard, and is certainly fast enough to handle SSH if that is all you need and want to get something used on the cheep. Of course, it's a pretty damn slow phone compared to what is on the market today.
N900 FTW! Great form factor, i just use w a rubber from a mouse pad under it to better grip on a table.
It's not sourcery, it's Technology!!!
Saves my *ss every week when I have to fix stuff riding train. You have choice of Dropbear and openssh from repositories.
Slightly related:
I discovered Rsync backup for Android at the weekend, and it's very useful. I now have a complete backup of my phone on my PC, and any time I take a photo I can copy it to my server with a couple of clicks. Since it's real rsync it should be reliable, I had trouble with a couple of other "backup" apps losing files.
(On-topic I use ConnectBot about once every two months. SSH on a virtual keyboard is awful, expect to use it only in an emergency. About the only thing I've used it for is turning off my PC downstairs if I've already gone to bed.)
Are there any good ssh programs for free for the iPhone?
I tried to use the terminal that comes with cidia for a jailbroken 3GS...but it won't work. You fire it up and the app immediately crashes. I've not found much of anything yet that works on the jailbroken iPhone.
I'd like to be able to ssh into my boxes...but not finding anything free or open source that will work with it.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I've used my blackberry with this program for more than 2 years, having tried using an iphone as well as a few different android phones I find my self coming back to the blackberry. The program's a little steep for $9.99 but it gives you a lot to play with as well as the ability save and use items on the memory card of the blackberry which I've yet to find an android or iphone app that did let me use the internal memory of my phone in such a way. Not to mention the keyboard for a blackberry seems to feel and work a lot better than most of the other phones out there. Granted Blackberries have a few years on all the other smart phones out there.
This is a Mac, what you have there is an embarrassment to your fellow computer users.
Yes, any linux based smartphone (androids, nokia n900) and ssh.
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My phone is a Droid X. 4.3 inch display at 854x480.
For home, I use Logmein Ignition for Android to remote into a PC with all the administrative tools I normally use. This not only releases me from the need to find and configure SSH and X-windows on the phone, but it also has the advantage of doing an end-run around my firewall so I don't have to expose port 22 to the outside world.
At work where logmein is forbidden, I use the Citrix client for Android to log into a spare work PC that has my tools and direct access to the company intranet.
I know these solutions are not very geeky, but they're widely available, take a minimum of configuration, and appear to be very reliable.
The only problem is to balance connectivity with portability. Wherever I go I'm most likely to have my phone on me, but it has the smallest screen of my devices and space is a little tight to do remote administration. It's more comfortable remoting in with a laptop, but the bulk and weight make it less likely I'll have it on me. I'm thinking a good compromise might be a 7" Android tablet. I hope to do some experiments in that area in the remote future.
Whatever you use, I don't have to say that you DO NOT want to have the phone save passwords and log you in automatically, lest you leave the phone on the table at Starbucks. In some companies this is a firing offense.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Carrying around a BT keyboard is hardly on the run now is it.
Your notion that bluetooth keyboards cannot be portable is rather quaint.
I have a friend with one (not sure if it's this exact one), he keeps it in his pocket.
If typing is at all important to you than even a cramped keyboard is a huge improvement over the tiny keys on mobile keyboards. You cannot say typing is so important that a virtual keyboard is a deal breaker and then turn around to insist the inflexible keypads, often without numbers, are any kind of substitute for a larger keyboard.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I use connectbot on my HTC Hero, but there are a few things that are somewhat annoying about it. First, I haven't got SSH Trusts working with it, which is kind of a big deal, since I'm paranoid enough to require the connecting device have its public key stored in the .ssh/authorized_hosts file on the SSH bastion host on my home network (although it hasn't been a big enough deal that I've spent a lot of time working on it). Second, since the Hero's virtual keyboard isn't a full 101-key keyboard, it's a bit clunky to do things like send an escape or CTRL-C character. It's possible, just a bit of a pain. Finally, every other app on the Hero allows you to press and hold a key on the keyboard to choose numbers or special characters, for example, press and hold the "t" key to type the number "5" or press and hold the "h" key to select an ampersand ("&"). Connectbot, for some obscure reason detects that as two key strokes. So, for example, if I try to type a quote character by pressing and holding the "x" key, connectbot detects an "x" and then a quote. As long as you are aware of the limitations and know how to work around them, connectbot is usable, just a bit clunky. Nevertheless, whenever possible, I prefer to do like someone else mentioned earlier and just tether a laptop to the phone so I can use a "normal" SSH client.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
As you noted iSSH also works with bluetooth keyboards - a nice combination might be an iPad with a Zagg case. I'm thinking about getting one myself...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
My only complaint is that it doesn't remember passwords the way AndFTP does (another excellent tool, by the way). I'd like to not have to type in the darned password every time, but oh well, it's a lot better than no ssh.
I don't know that I would want it to remember passwords. What happens if you lose your phone, or if someone steals it? If Connectbot remembers your passwords, you've just given a complete stranger the keys to your kingdom. It's a bit of a PITA to type passwords on my Hero with Connectbot, but less so than changing all of the passwords on every system to which I connect were I to lose the phone somewhere.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
You'll probably need either a browser that supports proxies, the default one does not, or you could set up a VPN on your phone.
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yah that is alot of why I went for the droid2. I really liked the physical keyboard. Honestly, I am only so so on the touch screen stuff, its very clumsy for me, might work better if I had smaller fingers but, not much that I can do about that.... short of going to work with the bench grinder and honestly, that seems like overkill.
-Steve
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
There's been a trend toward 4-row keyboards in the Android devices that even have them. The G1 had 5-rows of keys, so numbers are OK and you can type []{}`|.
But the G2 is 4 rows and there's not even a soft key for backquote.
At least on the Hiptop you got a real control key, not a control prefix.
Maybe Nokia will see the light and support Android, or maybe Cyanogen will do the port.
Seconded - works great on my Torch - there were few rough edges in places, but the developer seems quite active and responsive to feedback - they get fixed quickly.
Control-C, Control-D...? I know, I know, you can do blah blah blah instead...but no. It's just not as useful yet.
Performing sysadmin functions from a phone is far from ideal and its much more likely the sort of thing we want to be able to do (because getting it working seems "fun"), but having a tool in your belt for when the sh*t really hits the fan and you aren't near a computer or a laptop is a good idea.
Evolution: love it or leave it
The N900 is hands down the best phone for unix command line tools, including ssh. Beyond ssh, you've got dssh, sql clients, perl, python, ruby, etc. There are tools like desktop command execution widget that aleviate the need to develop applications for easy access to commonly used scripts. If you need a more complex gui interface, you can radically simplify the development process by using python,
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
For sysadmin work, a real mechanical keyboard and a high resolution/bigger screen is a requirement so you can see what you are doing. The keyboard needs to have a full set of keys (meaning 5 rows, so you have numbers and symbols in the right place), including numeric keys to be practical.
I have one of the original T-Mobile G-1's (the first Android phone). It has a very nice slide out keyboard and is amazing at doing SSH with ConnectBot, which is nearly the best SSH application I've used on any computer. Unfortunately, the G-1 is getting long in the tooth... so I'll probably upgrade soon.
-- $G
http://bbssh.org/ota
best of all, it's still under active development. A ton of features have been added in 2.0 and more are planned
This is a paid app, but works really well for me. I've fixed disasters with it. Looks sweet on the iPhone 4 retina display. I can even use it to VNC to my desktop via SSH tunnel - works pretty well over 3G with the colors toned down. The on-screen keyboard can be made transparent so reading the stuff behind it isn't too difficult.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
I would have to say the HTC Touch Pro2 is my favorite. Good sized screen, port of putty amongst other things, and excellent keyboard. However, you will want to cook a ROM for best results and install the keyboard driver from XDA to allow you to fully map all of your keys.
I have a Samsung Intercept and use ConnectBot, too. I always switch to the physical keyboard for terminal work. Great application.
Check out my world simulator thingy.
i use my G1/Dream (CM7) as a client, and its not bad it doesnt do X though
ConnectBot works fine. Key Authentication, Pot Forwarding, multiple sessions.
Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
I used a Cliq with Better Terminal Emulator to ssh; I have an Epic now, and it's better because it does have the numbers separate, though that wasn't a *big* problem on the Cliq, and I liked the feel of the Cliq better. It was slightly slower though.
Not only ssh, but sshfs and X forwarding. For the administration that requires a graphical interface, just pop it up on your N900 display. You can't beat that.
Not to mention OpenVPN works too.
I don't want to switch from Verizon Wireless. The Nokia N900 looks awesome but it's a GSM phone. Any suggestions for a good SSH phone on Verizon?
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
Thanks, I'll check BBSSH out.
I don't care why you're posting AC
I'm using connectbot too and it's excellent and the G1 keyboard is good enough to do the job.
Seems like the real solution is a bluetooth keyboard and a hi-res HMD. One finally exists; the ITG-PCX3D has 1024x768 resolution... but nobody seems to be making a phone that can drive it.
Considering that OP asks for ssh, one might assume that he is from the Unix/Linux space, hence a Nokia N900 that is the ultimate hacker friendly phone makes sense.
The biggest issue I've found with the keyoard that you need Fn to enter digits, and the dot is Fn-less hence, entering IP addresses needs some getting used to.
Basically you are getting a ARM based Linux subsubsub notebook, with a X11 based UI that is appropiate for the size. And the form factor makes it a nice phone too.
Drawbacks:
-) the usual battery drain problem (basically if you are a power user you probably want to have a second charged pack at hand, a fully charged battery can be drained in 3 hours if you use it nonstop)
-) some stuff like MMS (who is willing to pay for that?) need 3rd party apps. Other nice stuff like a Wifi hotspot or Bluetooth tethering need to be installed from extras-devel.
-) default kernel comes without iptables, sigh.
Other goodies:
-) Firefox based default browser.
-) Very well done Skype integration.
-) The phone works well as an UMTS modem over USB (if you need to tether on the road for your laptop).
-) Terminal app, and trivial root access, hence you can play completely e.g. with the network stack as you need it. (My home setup is: N900 tethered via USB to my desktop, accessing the Internet via the desktop, with a VNC client on the desktop to control the N900. If the cable modem fails, the N900 still accesses the Internet via the desktop, but the desktop uses the N900 as it's fallback UMTS modem)
Many people have already recommended the Nokia N900, but I have to strongly concur. I do admin stuff from my N900 all the time; I have a caching, ad-filtering, anonymizing proxy on my home server, which I setup an encrypted tunnel to with SSH for a lovely VPN, even if I'm on clear-text Wi-Fi. Not to mention, it easily stays up with a "while true; do ssh -L 3128:myserver.com:3128 myserver.com; sleep 1; done" because the N900 has a shell out of the box (and Perl, plus you can install Python, and Emacs, and Vim, etc, etc). Also, since the N900 runs XOrg, you can easily forward your X apps, either to or from the N900, or use VNC if you prefer. Sure, some people are more "comfortable" with an iPhone or Android device, but the N900 Just Works for geeks like me, no jailbreaking or rooting required.
Nathan's blog
I've used several nokia comunicators, symbian based phones, and several others, but the Nokia N900 is my best choice so far for my specific needs. It's not as cool as a iPhone or as funky as a Android, but it gets the jobs done. It's a mini debian desktop system, which can also make phone call's. .
I think ConnectBot will do what you want (via port forwarding).
Virgin Mobile has a nice $25/month "Beyond Talk" deal for unlimited data and SMS and 300 minutes/month for voice (with higher priced plans if you use more voice), motto Go crazy on Android. It's prepaid if you want it to be, so it's nice that way. They only sell a single phone, the Samsung Intercept, but I've found it to be really nice for what I do: it's got a slide-out keyboard with a separate number row and with separate buttons per key (no membrane keyboard). I spend lots of time on SSH via ConnectBot and have found it to be pleasant to use.
It's not the most powerful processor and the resolution isn't mindblowing and it's still Android 2.1, but I run my terminal at 80x21 and am quite happy with it, especially for the price.
We all have multi screen running on our desk.
During a meeting or in a remote project group, there should be many many more screens around : desktop, iphone, tabalets, notebooks, ....
Isnt it a need to zoom around files, screen shoots, x display sessions, keyboard tunnleing, audio in, audio out, midi?, video?, remote usb access, remote bookmark, remote cut/paste and authentation ?
This should have been done for a linux desktop for years.
Take it from me, you want a device with a large, fold out keyboard you can rest all 10 fingers on and touch type. Nothing else matters remotely as much as this one thing... Typing with one finger, or your thumbs, takes 10X as long.
The gold standard is the Psion 5mx or Revo from 10 years ago... back when cell phones were tethered to PDAs for the business traveler, and every PDA but the Psions were either glorified alarm clocks, or flashy toys you couldn't actually get anything done on... Sure, this means a bulkier phone in your pocket, but it also means you get a much larger screen, and more room for batteries, expansion, etc.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Yay.. my unasked question is answered! Many problems can now be solved with this program and my Epic.. this is fantastic. Thank you for pointing this out!
Have you tried out the Nokia N900? Fairly cheap for unlocked ones over the net. 32GB internal storage. 256MB RAM. It's a proper Linux system, so the built in implementation of OpenSSH in Xterm works just fine :)
Connecting the Openmoko phones to your Linux computer provides ssh, charging and internet sharing (you can use your computer's internet this way which is quite useful to check installed programmes which require internet access, e.g. a web browser or an instant messaging programme). The usb port also supports host mode. The screen resolution is pretty good as well for phones that were released in 2007-2008 (480x640). The phones don't have a physical keyboard, but the virtual QWERTY keyboard used with a stylus is quite good.
Check the "About" section of the app. On the Nexus One, tapping the navigation trackball will ctrl modify the following character.
This is a no-brainer for me.
After using quite a few handsets, I've found the N900 wins for unix administration by quite a good distance.
It has:
- a well thought out physical keyboard,
- a *very* well thought out touch optimized X Terminal, with toggles between swipe to scroll and swipe to select text for copy/paste, as well as gpm support for midnight commander clicks, etc.
- openssh client (and openssh server only an apt-get command away)
Its worth mentioning that it ships with these things *out of the box*
The VNCviewer app (thank Aaron Levinson and Detlef Schmicker) is by far the best and fastest i've used on a mobile, and the included fine point stylus/restrictive touch screen is to be desired with remote admin work, for pixel accuracy. Same goes for the rdesktop app - a joy to use. Hardware keyboard is definitely ftw in these cases!
N900 comes with busybox (bash available in repos), is based on debian. In the standard repositories are a good selection of the utilities you're already used to using for unix administration.
The browser is firefox based, very fast, and very well thought out (and includes flash). Alternate browsers available are Firefox Mobile, Opera as well as a few others. You wont get stuck with a strange router web interface failing to render properly; being firefox based, everything renders exactly like it does on a desktop PC. (including the desktop version of google docs, maps, streetview etc; no "mobile / lite" versions needed)
If you're not happy with the selection in the standard repos, apt-get install easy-debian-chroot. Then you have a full debian chroot and can run close on any linux package you wish, just like a full linux desktop (and not limited to console only; N900 runs a standard xorg and gtk/qt etc libraries). nmap anyone? screen? irssi? audacity? wireshark? kismet? tcpdump? All work beautifully.
Make no mistake, this device is a unix administration powerhouse in your pocket. Nothing comes remotely close even now, over a year after release.
Incidentally, it also holds it's own in other "smartphone" areas.. multitasking, multimedia, camera, skype video, podcasting etc. Oh and just for balance, it's weak point is lack of RAM. load a few large apps up and it starts swapping badly.
Hey now... that works (I was the dumb anonymous user :D )...
Looking through the wiki now trying to figure out the other keys (doesn't match up on the Droid2). Pretty cool watching top, nmon, and smitty through that interface...
My only complaint is that it doesn't remember passwords the way AndFTP does (another excellent tool, by the way). I'd like to not have to type in the darned password every time, but oh well, it's a lot better than no ssh.
You've never heard of SSH keys?
I've never typed a password to log on to any of my machines with ConnectBot. Nor am I planning to. There is no need for a password remembering feature (nor can I imagine there ever will be), because SSH keys makes that redundant.
Ahh, i had this problem, it's because the version that cydia has isn't compatible with the latest jailbreak. However, there is a way around it, as there is a newer version of the terminal app you can get (well, it works on 4.1, i've not upgraded to 4.2 yet) You'll have to search for it on google, i'd help but i'm at work now and pretty much everything fun is blocked ;p
I think i searched for terminal incompatible with jailbreak 4.1 and it gave me a how-to guide to get the latest terminal version, which has been working for me.
LOL nothing dumb about that. It was not intuitive, but what else can you do when you have limited buttons... It surprised me when I first found it too.
connectbot[1] does ssh tunnels, and has pubkey support, no sftp though.
[1] http://code.google.com/p/connectbot/
All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
which means if you loose your phone and someone looks they may have full access to your hosts... not good.
All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
I still use a Nokia E90 Communicator with Symbian PuTTY. Five row backlit keyboard, CTRL, and TAB. (The 9300 and 9500 communicators had ESC as well. Sigh.)
I tried using a Nexus S, but ConnectBot is terrible without a hardware keyboard or trackball - even with "Full Keyboard" from the Market.
You can pick up a used G1 for $50 or less and hop on almost any carrier network you prefer. ConnectBot is free, works like a champ. The G1 has a full hardware keyboard, with numerals on their own row. I've gotten quite a bit of use out of mine with this setup until I finally upgraded to a newer phone.
It could be that the only purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others.
Figured I'd engage in another bit of shameless self promotion - check out bbssh, midpssh's successor :)