SSH

We use ssh to connect to our development servers etc. Github (which is our code host) also requires you to use ssh keys.

Unix, Linux, OSX
From a terminal window:

ssh-keygen

Your "public key" (which you'll have to send to us to get access to our servers, or uploadin your github settings, or whatever) is ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub or ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub depending on whether you used RSA or DSA.

Windows
Follow these instructions: http://www.howtoforge.com/ssh_key_based_logins_putty -- especially those on page 2-4 which are about setting up your public key and using it (you won't be able to login without it, so the instructions on page 1 may not fully work for you).

Slightly more detailed instructions of what to do:


 * Choose a login name (often your first name or the nickname/login name you use on Growstuff or other sites)
 * Download putty following instructions at http://www.howtoforge.com/ssh_key_based_logins_putty and configure it with the following settings:
 * Host: hack.growstuff.org (or whatever other host you want to connect to)
 * Port: 22
 * Auto-login username: the login name you chose previously
 * Session name (to save your settings as): "Growstuff" or "hack.growstuff.org" or whatever is the name of the machine you're connecting to
 * Create an SSH key using puttygen, following the instructions on http://www.howtoforge.com/ssh_key_based_logins_putty_p2, starting at section 5 (skip the initial Open/login stuff, as it won't work for you if you need a key to login).
 * Save the public key as id_rsa.pub
 * Save the private key as id_rsa, in the same directory as the public key
 * When you get to part 6 on that page, don't save the public key on the server -- you don't have access to the server yet to do that. Instead, send that SSH public key to a coach or someone who has access to the machine you want to work on.  You can send the id_rsa.pub file as an attachment in email, or just copy-paste it into an email, IM chat window, or whatever.  Your public key is not secret, and you can share it with anyone who asks for it -- just don't share your private key!
 * They will install it on the server and let you know when you can login.
 * Follow the instructions on page 3/section 7 of the instructions linked above, to connect your key to the Putty profile you set up earlier.
 * Follow the instructions in section 8 to connect to the server using your new key.