Skill Store 33

Ssh

SSH remote access - connections, tunnels, keys, file transfers.

by dicklesworthstone · MIT

The skill

SSH remote access - connections, tunnels, keys, file transfers. Use when connecting to servers, managing SSH keys, setting up port forwarding, or transferring files with scp/rsync.

<!-- TOC: Quick Start | THE EXACT PROMPT | Essential Commands | Config | AGENTS.md Blurb | References -->

SSH — Secure Remote Access

Core Capability: Secure shell connections, key management, tunneling, and file transfers.

Quick Start

# Connect to server
ssh user@hostname

# Connect with specific key
ssh -i ~/.ssh/my_key user@hostname

# Run remote command
ssh user@host "cd /app && git status"

# Copy file to remote
scp local.txt user@host:/remote/path/

# Sync directory (preferred over scp)
rsync -avzP ./local/ user@host:/remote/

THE EXACT PROMPT — Common Workflows

Connect Through Jump Host

# Single jump (bastion)
ssh -J jumphost user@internal-server

# Multiple jumps
ssh -J jump1,jump2 user@internal-server

Local Port Forward (access remote service locally)

# Access remote:80 via localhost:8080
ssh -L 8080:localhost:80 user@host

# Access db-server:5432 via localhost:5432 through jumphost
ssh -L 5432:db-server:5432 user@jumphost

Generate and Deploy Key

# Generate Ed25519 key (recommended)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"

# Copy public key to server
ssh-copy-id user@host

Essential Commands

Task Command
Connect ssh user@host
Connect on port ssh -p 2222 user@host
Connect with key ssh -i ~/.ssh/key user@host
Run remote command ssh user@host "command"
Interactive remote ssh -t user@host "htop"
Copy to remote scp file.txt user@host:/path/
Copy from remote scp user@host:/path/file.txt ./
Sync to remote rsync -avzP ./local/ user@host:/remote/
Local forward ssh -L local:remote:port user@host
Remote forward ssh -R remote:local:port user@host
SOCKS proxy ssh -D 1080 user@host
Jump host ssh -J bastion user@internal
Generate key ssh-keygen -t ed25519
Copy key to server ssh-copy-id user@host
Debug connection ssh -vvv user@host

SSH Config

Location: ~/.ssh/config

Host myserver
    HostName 192.168.1.100
    User deploy
    Port 22
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/myserver_key
    ForwardAgent yes

Host internal
    HostName 10.0.0.50
    User deploy
    ProxyJump bastion

Then connect with just: ssh myserver

Connection Multiplexing (faster reconnects)

Host *
    ControlMaster auto
    ControlPath ~/.ssh/sockets/%r@%h-%p
    ControlPersist 600

mkdir -p ~/.ssh/sockets

SSH Agent

# Start agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

# Add key
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# Add with macOS keychain
ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# List loaded keys
ssh-add -l

Security Tips

  • Use Ed25519 keys (faster, more secure than RSA)
  • Set PasswordAuthentication no on servers
  • Keep keys encrypted with passphrases
  • Use ssh-agent to avoid typing passphrase repeatedly
  • Restrict key usage with command= in authorized_keys

AGENTS.md Blurb

Copy this to your project's AGENTS.md:

### SSH Access

SSH is configured for these servers:

- **Production:** `ssh prod` (via ~/.ssh/config)
- **Staging:** `ssh staging`

Common operations:

\`\`\`bash
ssh prod "cd /app && git status"      # Check deploy status
rsync -avzP ./dist/ prod:/app/dist/   # Sync files
ssh -L 5432:localhost:5432 prod       # DB tunnel
\`\`\`

Keys: `~/.ssh/id_ed25519` (add with `ssh-add`)

References

Topic Reference
Full command reference COMMANDS.md
Port forwarding details TUNNELS.md
Key management KEYS.md

Use this skill

Connect your agent to the Skill Store MCP server and ask for it by ref: dicklesworthstone/ssh-19640354787.

Download SKILL.md · Markdown version

Details

Publisher
dicklesworthstone
Category
Software Development › DevOps & cloud
License
MIT
Updated
2026-09-06

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