Escape characters

If a pseudo-tty is requested, ssh supports a raft of functions by using escape characters.

The following escape characters are supported (default: “~”):

~.	Close down connection.
~^Z	Execute ssh in the background.
~#	List forwarded connections.
~&	Execute ssh in the background in the event of a logout as long as forwarded connections are still active.
~?	Output list of escape characters.
~B	Send BREAK to the remote system.
~C	Open command line. (Only meaningful for additional port forwardings with the -L and -R options). OpenSSH itself “prompts” with a mini input line in which you can enter, for example, -L ... <RETURN>.
~R	Request reencryption of the session.

A single “~” (tilde) character can be sent as “~~” or as “~” followed by a character other than one of those explained above. To permit an escape character to be interpreted as a special character, the escape character must always be at the beginning of a new line. You can change the escape character using the EscapeChar option in the configuration file ssh_config (see "Configuring the OpenSSH client ssh") of the OpenSSH client ssh or using the command line parameter -e in the ssh start call.