Suggestions for SSH Client in Linux Mint

Question

I am using Linux Mint 18.3 on a Dell Laptop.

I like the connect to server feature in my file browser windows which allows me to easily access remote directories via SSH. However, as I repeatedly enter the username, IP and password, I can also see an option that the device will somehow remember these things. But where to retrieve the remembered data? Basically, what to do if I have to regularly log in to 3-4 different machines and do not want to enter the user credentials manually each time?

On the same topic, is there any good and free substitute of MobaX for Linux mint? I tried installing Termius, but the package manager snap seems to fail to do it. (For all other purpose, I use apt-get repository, I installed snap only for Termius and it fails, which is kinda annoying). Is there any other SSH client that will allow

• Single click Login to remote machines without using SSH command and password on local terminal
• Directly editing codes on the remote (via local editors such as Sublime) without going via git or scp etc. just like what MobaX offers on Windows

What's the recommendation?

Answer 1

It is considered bad practice to passwords for SSH. Instead you create a public/private key pair for your client and register the public key on the server. You can use an SSH agent (available on linux mint, and MobaX) to load your private key ready for use.

See how to set up ssh keys on linux

The short version is that you create your private key:

ssh-keygen

Keep the default location. This will create your private key id_rsa and public key id_rsa.pub.

Then you copy the contents of your newly created id_rsa.pub onto your server... add it to the file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys creating a new authorized_keys file if one doesn't already exist.

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You really don't need an alternative to MobaX for linux mint. MobaX is there to mimic what you already have under most linux distributions. Just open a terminal (command line) and type:

ssh user@remotehost

By default, MabaX wants to use a key agent and forward the X server to allow you to open windows:

# do this once to start the agent and add your private key from ~/.ssh/id_rsa
ssh-add

# Then to connect to your server
ssh -AX user@remotehost

remember to replace user and remotehost which your actual details.

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Based on your comment there are a couple of other tools to look into:

• Mint should have an equivalent to windows shortcuts (most likely named "launchers", though I'm not a mint user). You should be able to create one which automatically opens a terminal running ssh to your favourite host.
• Filezilla - This will let you work with SCP and drag and drop files to / from your server
• SSHFS - This will go further and let you mount SCP letting you edit files on your server in your favourite editor