Starting the OpenSSH client application

You start ssh with the following command:

ssh [-1246AaCfGgKkMNnqsTtVvXxYy] [-b bind_address] [-c cipher_spec]
    [-D [bind_address:]port] [-E log_file] [-e escape_char]
    [-F configfile] [-I pkcs11] [-i identity_file]
    [-J [user@]host[:port]] [-L address] [-l login_name] [-m mac_spec]
    [-O ctl_cmd] [-o option] [-p port] [-Q query_option] [-R address] 
    [-S ctl_path] [-W host:port] [-w local_tun[:remote_tun]]
    [user@]hostname [command] 

A detailed description of the operands is provided in the OpenSSH man pages.

ssh sets up the connection to the computer hostname and logs on there under the (optional) user name user. The user must prove his/her identity to the remote computer. Details on this are provided in the next section “Authentication between OpenSSH client ssh and server sshd”. If command is specified, this command is executed in the remote shell instead of in the user’s login shell.

Return value

If successful: Exit status of the command executed remotely

If not successful: 255