Install OpenSSH on Cygwin, then use it to access a Virtual Private Server (VPS) running Linux.








- Goal
- Contents
- Brief Summary
- Summary
- Notes
- Project Log








My system: Lenovo Thinkpad X200 running Windows 7 (64-bit). Cygwin is installed.

I installed the Cygwin package openssh 7.5p1-1. I created a new SSH key and gave it access to a VPS. I logged into the VPS via OpenSSH and executed some bash commands.

Note:
- None of the files mentioned in this project are stored as assets of this article.








My system:
- Hardware = Lenovo Thinkpad X200 (Laptop). Two internal hard drives, each of 75 GB capacity.
- Processor = Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU, P8600 @ 2.40GHz
- Memory (RAM) = 4.00 GB
- Operating System = Windows 7 Professional (Service Pack 1), 64-bit

I installed Cygwin during a previous project: Installing Cygwin on Windows 7

Using the Cygwin setup utility, I downloaded and installed openssh 7.5p1-1 from the Cygwin mirror
cygwin.mirror.constant.com
along with these dependencies that were automatically added:
- csih 0.9.11-1
- cygrunsrv 1.62-1
- libcom_err2 1.42.12-2
- libcrypt0 2.1-1
- libedit0 20130712-1
- libgssapi_krb5_2 1.15.2-2
- libk5crypto3 1.15.2-2
- libkrb5_3 1.15.2-2
- libkrb5support0 1.15.2-2
- libssp0 6.4.0-4

I ran the command to generate an SSH RSA keypair.

I created a new droplet (VPS) on DigitalOcean and granted access to my new SSH public key.

I assigned a domain to this droplet. I then successfully logged in to the droplet via SSH using this command:


I executed some bash commands on the Linux VPS and then ran the command to log out.








The Cygwin OpenSSH package may also depend on some of the packages that were already installed.

List of installed Cygwin packages at the end of this project:
















My system:
- Hardware = Lenovo Thinkpad X200 (Laptop). Two internal hard drives, each of 75 GB capacity.
- Processor = Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU, P8600 @ 2.40GHz
- Memory (RAM) = 4.00 GB
- Operating System = Windows 7 Professional (Service Pack 1), 64-bit



I installed Cygwin onto this system in a previous project: Installing Cygwin on Windows 7


During this previous project, I learned that an OpenSSH package exists for Cygwin, and that its maintainer is Corinna Vinschen.



Browse to:
www.cygwin.com


Click "Search Packages" in the navigation menu.
This leads to:
cygwin.com/cgi-bin2/package-grep.cgi

Radio button list (x86, x86_64) is set to x86_64.

Enter "openssh" in the search field and click Go.


Result: 34 packages, among which are:



Each package name is a hyperlink.


I'll choose openssh-7.7p1-1.

Click its name.
It leads to:
cygwin.com/cgi-bin2/package-cat.cgi?file=x86_64%2Fopenssh%2Fopenssh-7.7p1-1&grep=openssh


Excerpt:





Excerpt from the previous project:

Create a new directory on the system [location not specified]. Name it "cygwin_manager". Move "setup-x86_64.exe" into this directory. Create a new directory within "cygwin_manager" named "cygwin_packages". Move the directory
"http%3a%2f%2fcygwin.mirror.constant.com%2f"
into "cygwin_packages".

When using Cygwin again on this system, I plan to:
- run setup-x86_64.exe from this particular location
- use "cygwin_packages" as a general package archive
- use per-mirror directories in "cygwin_packages" as per-mirror package archives

Note: I will need to change the directory paths when I next run setup-x86_64.exe.

setup-x86_64.exe is used for installing or updating packages as well for performing the initial installation of Cygwin.

Double-click setup-x86_64.exe.


New dialog box:




Click Run.


New dialog box:




Click Yes.


New dialog box:





Click Next.


Dialog box:




Click Next.



Dialog box:





Click Next.


Dialog box:




Click Browse and change the Field value from

to
.



Click Next.



Dialog box:




Click Next.


The dialog box briefly displays information about downloading the mirrors list from https://cygwin.com. I used a smartphone to video this and read it afterwards.


Dialog box:




Click (and thereby select)
cygwin.mirror.constant.com

Click Next.



[Dialog box displays progress of download process]



Dialog box (larger this time):




Note: I haven't included the entire interface (e.g. all the buttons) in the dialog box rendition above.


In the Search field, enter "openssh" and press Enter.

Nothing is displayed.

Change the value of the View drop-down list from Pending to Full.

4 results, among which is:
- openssh: The OpenSSH server and client programs

The Search field seems to act as a filter that acts in concert with the other settings, rather than as an independent element.

Its category is "Net" (presumably the Net release) and its size is 750k (presumably bytes).

Under the "New" column, click "Skip", which then changes to "7.5p1-1".
- Clicking this value again returns to Skip. Evidently this mirror only stores the package for the 7.5p1-1 version of OpenSSH. Click Skip again to set the value to 7.5p1-1.


Click Next.




Dialog box:




Ok. So the Cygwin OpenSSH package presumably contains a list of its dependencies, which the mirror was able to extract, store, and provide to my Cygwin client, allowing my client to display their names.


Click Next.



[Dialog box displays progress of installation process]


Dialog box:




Click Finish.


Dialog box closes.


Start Cygwin terminal.






Looks like openssh 7.5p1-1 and all its listed dependencies have been installed.







Note: I didn't use a passphrase.




I already have a DigitalOcean account.

Log in to DigitalOcean.

I'll create a droplet (DigitalOcean's term for a VPS).

Click Create. Choose Droplets.


I now see the "Create Droplets" interface.

Choose these droplet details:
- Distribution = CentOS 6.9 x64
- Memory = 1 GB
- vCPUS = 1 vCPU
- SSD Disk = 25 GB
- Transfer = 1 TB
- Price = $5/mo, $0.007/hr
- Datacentre region = London

In the section "Add your SSH keys", click "New SSH Key". New interface opens. A text box is present with message "SSH key content". Paste in the SSH public key created earlier.

id_rsa.pub:


Set Name to "SP_THINKPAD_1".

[SP = "StJohn Piano"]

Click "Add SSH Key".

SP_THINKPAD_1 now appears in the list of keys. The box next to it is ticked.

Set hostname to "spt1".

Click Create.


I now see the Project interface. New droplet is being created.

New droplet finished. It has the IP address 178.62.36.113.


I have a spare domain: edgecase-test.net

Click it. The "Create new record" interface opens.

Excerpt:

Use @ to create the record at the root of the domain or enter a hostname to create it elsewhere. A records are for IPv4 addresses only and tell a request where your domain should direct to.

It already has 3 Nameserver records pointing to the DigitalOcean nameservers.

Create an A record for this domain. Use "@" for hostname. Set "Will direct to" to the droplet spt1. Set "TTL (Seconds)" to 3600.

Click Create Record.


3600 seconds = 1 hour.



[Approximately 10 minutes pass]






I pressed control-C to stop the ping command.

I think the DNS update took relatively little time because the domain was already pointed to the DigitalOcean nameservers.







It looks like PasswordAuthentication = "no" by default, which is good.




So: I have successfully logged in to a Linux VPS using OpenSSH + Cygwin + Windows.


Excellent. That's the end of this project.











- I have not always preserved the format of any excerpts from webpages on other sites (e.g. not preserving the original bold/italic styles, changing the list structures, not preserving hyperlinks).
- I have not always preserved the format of any computer output (e.g. from running bash commands). Examples: Setting input lines in bold text, adding/removing newlines in order to make a sequence of commands easier to read, using hyphens for lists and sublists instead of indentation, breaking wide tables into consecutive sections.
- I have not always preserved the format of any information copied from dialog boxes.