Shell Access

Q1.  What programs can I run on the server via an interactive shell?
Q2.  What is Secure Shell (SSH) and why should I use it?
Q3.  Is there a way to check email from a shell session?

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Q1.  What programs can I run on the server via an interactive shell?

  You may only run develop, compile, and run programs that are related to web serving (checking email is fine, too). Game servers, IRC bots, MUDs, ping bombs, etc. are NOT allowed. Programs that attempt to breach the security of our servers are also prohibited. Remember that the primary use of ourservers are for serving web pages. To this end, we will terminate any process that noticeably degrades overall system performance.

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Q2.  What is Secure Shell (SSH) and why should I use it?

  Secure shell is a encrypted communications channel that lets you connect to a remote host without being monitored by others. If you use standard telnet instead, other people on the internet could sniff your traffic and see your passwords, thereby gaining unauthorized access to your site. We strongly recommend that all sessions to the web server be established through SSH. SSH is easy to set up. For Windows users, simply download and install the latest version of Putty. Warning: Use of PuTTY is illegal in countries where encryption is outlawed. If you reside in such a country, do not use SSH.

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Q3.  Is there a way to check email from a shell session?

  Yes, but this feature is NOT supported. You may check your email from your shell account by typing pine. Note that before sending out email for the first time, you MUST go to Setup->Config inside pine and change the "user-domain" field to your site's real domain name. Otherwise, you will not receive email from people who reply to your letters.

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