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When you SSH into a server, your client first establishes a protected connection and verifies the server’s identity. It then authenticates your user account and asks the server to open a service—usually an interactive shell, but it can also be a remote command or another supported connection channel.
What happens when you run SSH?
An SSH login is a sequence, not a single act of “logging in.” The protocol separates the work into three layers: transport, user authentication, and connection services. The transport layer protects the connection and authenticates the server; the authentication layer checks your user; the connection layer carries the shell or other requested service. RFC 4251 describes this architecture.
- The client reaches the server. SSH commonly uses TCP/IP as its underlying reliable data stream. Reaching the server’s SSH service establishes a network connection, but it does not by itself complete an SSH login. RFC 4253
- The client and server negotiate capabilities. They exchange protocol information and agree on algorithms for key exchange and the protected transport. The precise choices vary with the client, server, and their configurations; no single cipher or key-exchange method is universal. RFC 4253
- They establish session keys and verify the server’s identity. During key exchange, the server proves its identity using a host key. For that check to establish that you reached the intended server, your client needs a trustworthy association between the server name and the host key—for example, a previously stored mapping or a trusted host-key certificate. RFC 4251
- The transport is protected. After key exchange, the transport provides confidentiality and integrity protection for the SSH connection. OpenSSH also describes optional compression at this layer. This step authenticates the server; it does not yet authenticate your user account. RFC 4253 · OpenSSH manual pages
- The client authenticates your user. The user-authentication protocol runs over the protected transport. Depending on server policy and client configuration, accepted methods can include a password or public-key authentication. With public-key authentication, the proof is bound to the session using information from key exchange. RFC 4252
- The client requests a service. After authentication succeeds, the client can request a shell, run a remote command, or use other supported capabilities such as forwarding. These services use logical channels, and multiple channels can share one authenticated encrypted connection. RFC 4254
Why the host-key check matters
A host key identifies the server to the client; a user credential identifies the user to the server. These checks answer different questions. A successful host-key check does not grant account access, and successful user authentication does not establish that the client originally contacted the intended server.
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On a first connection, a client may ask whether to trust an unfamiliar host key. The prompt alone is not proof that the key belongs to the server you meant to reach. Verify the key fingerprint through a trusted channel when possible, or rely on a host-key certificate issued by a trusted authority. RFC 4251 explains the host key’s role in verifying the server during key exchange: RFC 4251, The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Architecture.
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What SSH protects—and what it does not
It is incomplete to say only that “SSH encrypts your password.” SSH first negotiates a protected transport and authenticates the server; the selected user-authentication method then runs inside that transport. The transport’s confidentiality and integrity protection helps prevent outsiders on the network from reading or altering SSH traffic, but it does not make a compromised client or server trustworthy. RFC 4253 · RFC 4252
Neither a public key nor a smartcard is mandatory for every SSH connection. Authentication options depend on what the server allows and what the user has provisioned; RFC 4251 mentions smartcards or similar technology as one possible way to make private-key passphrase protection enforceable, not as a protocol requirement. RFC 4251
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- Supported features include Wake-on-LAN function, Green Ethernet & IEEE 802.3az-2010 (Energy Efficient Ethernet)
- Supports IPv4/IPv6 pack Checksum Offload Engine (COE) to reduce Cental Processing Unit (CPU) loading
- Compatible with Windows 8.1 or higher, Mac OS
What happens after the login succeeds?
For an interactive login, the server opens a session channel for a shell. You can type commands, receive output, and interact with the remote environment through that channel. If you instead request a remote command, the connection carries that command’s input and output. SSH can also carry forwarding traffic or other supported services; an interactive terminal is only one use of the protocol. RFC 4254
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