SSH connection settings
This tab appears only if the SSH Tunneling flag at the previous tab was checked.
SSH (Secure Shell Host) protocol is used to heighten the computer security when working with Unix systems in Internet. SSH uses several encryption algorithms of different reliability. The spread of the SSH is also connected with the fact that a number of Linux-like OS's (for example FreeBSD) include SSH server in their standard integration. To get more information about this issue, please, visit http://openssh.org. SSH tunneling feature of SQL Manager is a means for secure connection to InterBase/Firebird servers when working over insecure connection channels. You can also use SSH tunnel to get access to the remote InterBase/Firebird servers, when port 3050 is closed for external connections due to some reasons. The connection over SSH tunnel works in the following way. First a connection is established and authentication between SSH client built in SQL Manager and remote InterBase/Firebird server is performed. Then all in and outgoing information between the program and InterBase/Firebird server is transmitted through SSH server with the help of communication port (usually it is 22), and SSH server transfers this information directly to InterBase/Firebird server. To register a database to which one connects through SSH tunnel, you should set the following parameters:
- SSH host name is the name (IP-adress) of the host where SSH server is running
- SSH port indicates the port where SSH server is activated
- SSH user name stands for the user on the machine where SSH server is running (Note: it is a Linux/Windows user, not a user of InterBase/Firebird server)
- SSH password is the Linux/Windows user password
Note that if SSH server and IB/FB server are located at the same machine you should type localhost at the SSH host name field instead of host name or IP-adress.
Use Private Key for authentication
If the SSH encryption is enabled on the SSH server, a user can generate a pair of cryptographic keys (the Private key and the Public key). The Public key is placed on the SSH server, and the Private key is the part you keep secret inside a secure box that can only be opened with the correct passphrase (or an empty string as the passphrase). When you wish to access the remote system, you open the secure box with your passphrase (if any), and use the private key to authenticate yourself with the Public key on the remote Linux computer.
SSH Key file
Specify the location (the secure box) of the Private key file on your local machine.
Supported Private Key file formats are:
OpenSSH
Putty
SSH.com
Note that you need to trust your local machine not to scrape your passphrase or a copy of your Private key file while it is out of its secure box.
Click the Next button to proceed to the Setting specific options step of the wizard.
