Does VPS allows me to install and use OpenSSH?

Hi,

Just wonder if the VPS solution allows me to install and use OpenSSH that depends on TCP/IP port 22 be open.

I am not sure I understand what kind of control do one has with regarding to VPS. In a competitor's VPS hosting, I was able to install OpenSSH,and use it from within the VPS, but connection to it via port 22 was blocked and there seems to be no visible way for to to unblock such port nor that company's tech support is willing to even talk to me.

I will switch if the DreamHost VPS let me use any TCP/IP port at will.

jml

This is a customer-to-customer forum.

You can contact DH support to clear your doubt via http://www.dreamhost.com/contact.cgi

I'm not using VPS here. I can't give any comment but I think it is good for you to check with DH support directly.

Uhh. Dreamhost already has OpenSSH installed on all servers. It's what we use when we SSH into our servers. What is it that you're trying to do?

You mean secure shell access?

I thought OpenSSH was different from SSH.. frown

In reply to:
You mean secure shell access? I thought OpenSSH was different from SSH..

Well, it *is* different in the sense that SSH (Secure Shell) is a network protocol, while OpenSSH is a project implementing the protocol in a "free" way. wink .

--rlparker

In reply to:
while OpenSSH is a project

Haiz..

I think I am out of date already.

In reply to:
I was able to install OpenSSH,and use it from within the VPS, but connection to it via port 22 was blocked

Well, to my knowledge I don't think dreamhost blocks port 22 or any other port. OTOH, there are services that dreamhost is already running on your server that use certain ports - ssh, telnet, apache, ftp, etc, that you "can't" really override except via the acceptable mechanisms - proxying, for instance.

In reply to:
and there seems to be no visible way for to to unblock such port nor that company's tech support is willing to even talk to me.

FWIW, dreamhost support is always happy to answer your support questions - except occasionally for specific questions about fraud detection (for obvious reasons). Plus we have a very active user community that can answer many of your questions (and which you yourself can contribute to). This community is active both here on the forums and over on the dreamhost wiki. You do have to pay extra for phone support, though.

In reply to:
I will switch if the DreamHost VPS let me use any TCP/IP port at will.

As I said, my understanding is that they'll let you use any TCP port that isn't already being used.

One other thing that's important for you to know is that DreamHost PS isn't exactly the same as a VPS. It's still a managed hosting service in that they provide a control panel and a number of pre-installed services. No one who's posted here has tried to override any of these services so we don't know whether they are overridable. The good thing is that you get a lot of functionality that works right out of the box while still maintaining the capability to SSH into your server and install other applications and servers as you need them. Oh, and also remember that you don't get root access on DreamHost PS.

First of all, what I like to do is to use SFTP for secure file upload/download, as I don't like the idea of FTP that userid and password is be transmitted in the clear.

Second of all, I would like a on-the-server System Test to my application or web site that use a different port to minimize production downtime due to environmental difference because of production server and QA server. For example, instead of dropping an new release of web site from QA to production, I prefer a System Test using say, port 8080, http://xyy.com:8080 for System Test.

So the ability to choose and unblock a desired port no. is important. As long as one can do that, which port is not important.

jml

In reply to:
First of all, what I like to do is to use SFTP for secure file upload/download, as I don't like the idea of FTP that userid and password is be transmitted in the clear.

SFTP is supported for "shell" enabled users of the DreamHostPS servers, so *that* should not be an issue. You can, in fact, prevent a user from connecting *without* using SFTP if you want (by editing the user's settings).

I have no idea about your second concern. I drop my QA code onto a subdomain configured identically to my production server for testing, and then either rename dirs or re-upload to the production site when it is ready to go "live". wink

--rlparker

In reply to:
Second of all, I would like a on-the-server System Test to my application or web site that use a different port to minimize production downtime due to environmental difference because of production server and QA server. For example, instead of dropping an new release of web site from QA to production, I prefer a System Test using say, port 8080, http://xyy.com:8080 for System Test.

So the ability to choose and unblock a desired port no. is important. As long as one can do that, which port is not important.

Most people here use a different virtual hostname for that sort of testing.

How do you usually set up your webserver to listen on 8080 instead of 80? I know how one *can* do it, I just want to know what you *usually* do since that's what you want to replicate.

BTW, FWIW, it's common enough for people to set up a Tomcat on their server to listen on port 8080 (and proxied by Apache from port 80, say), so I know for sure that Dreamhost will let you run a web server of some kind listening on another port.

Does VPS allows me to install and use OpenSSH?