With SSH, data transmissions between TinyTERM and the server are encrypted. Even if someone manages to hack into your connection, the information won't be readable. This helps protect your valuable information from unauthorized access.

SSH keys provide an additional layer of security for your server. With password access disabled, brute-force attempts to login to the server will fail, as only an authorized key pair will allow a login.

The SSH Files tab allows you to specify an existing SSH Configuration Location and SSH Public Key File already on the Mac. Note that the information line for the SSH Configuration Location is read-only. Clicking the Reset button will clear the line.

To select the folder where the SSH files are stored, click the Locate button. Browse the Finder window to select the folder. If the folder is hidden, you'll need to enter the path manually here, or change the Finder view settings to make it visible.

Once the folder has been located, the SSH Public Key File drop-down will populate with available public keys. You can leave it on <auto> to allow TinyTERM for Mac to select the key, or select a specific key.

With a specific key selected, the Copy Key button becomes available. This copies the current key as text to the clipboard. It can then be pasted into any other app.

Rather than specificing SSH keys in this manner, you can choose to Use system SSH Authorization Daemon if it is already configured.

To generate a new SSH key pair, go to the SSH Keys tab. Select either RSA v2 or DSA encryption to match your host requirements. Specify the Key Name. Only the first part of the name is required. Below the name, TinyTERM specifies the full path to the resulting files, both *_rsa and *_rsa.pub

if desired, change the Key Size from its default of 1024 to the preferred number of bits. The larger the key size, the longer the keys will take to generate.

TinyTERM also requires a Passphrase to be used with the key. This does not need to be an actual password for the server, so it can include spaces, punctuation or any other characters.

On clicking the Generate button, TinyTERM will generate the keys in the directory specified on the SSH Files tab.

Using an SSH Key

After the key pair is generated, the public key must be moved to the host system. This can be done via email, file transer program, USB memory stick or any other file copy method available.

After copying the public key to the host, it needs to be added to the list of authorized keys. This command is common for an RSA key:

cat id_rsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Adjust the command as needed to match the file name and host requirements. The private key remains stored on the Mac.