Solutions: Using Mac OSX Terminal as an alternative to PuTTY

Posted by Michael Bourque on May 17, 2013 in Solutions 

This post is being made on the Mac!

Today I needed to perform some auditing functions on a couple of web servers, and continue implementing the NSA’s recommendations for securing a Linux Server on our VWS. This required multiple and frequent SSH connections which, on a PC with Windows, is easily provided through a popular and free utility called PuTTY.

Mac OSX has a built in Terminal as well, simply called ‘Terminal’. At first glance, it seemed extremely primitive. I did not see how it could manage my directory of connections which meant I would have to memorize the entire list of ip addresses and non-standard port configurations. It also meant that I would have to manually rekey this information each time I made a connection, which can be necessary dozens of times in a single day.

My first hope was that there was a Mac OSX version of PuTTY. Unfortunately, there is not. There are several tutorials discussing ways to run PuTTY for Windows on Max OSX but these require additional software (XCode, MacPorts) and equate to a wholly unrewarding experience. In short, I say just because it CAN be done, does not mean that it SHOULD be done.

As I had posted my concerns about a PuTTY Equivalent in a previous post, I had received some feedback via the NETSoc@UOIT Facebook Group. Several tips were given that encouraged me to give the native Mac Terminal utility one more look.

While ‘Terminal’ is not as convenient as PuTTY it does, more or less, have all of the same functionality. You can store your frequently used server connections in a slightly hidden interface that can be accessed by choosing the Shell menu, then ‘New Remote Connection’

 

Once you have the ‘New Remote Connection’ window open, you can add new connections by choosing your connection type in the Service column and the clicking the ‘+’ button under the Server column. In the dialog that opens, you can enter the IP address or URL of your server. However, if you require connection to a non standard port, or wish to include the username so you don’t have to type it each time, you can include this information in the server address you enter into the dialog.

 

For example, if you want simply to add the server url:

Or if you want to include a username:

And if you want to include a username and a port number: