Switching from ftp/telnet to WinSCP/Putty on Eagle4 (Main campus web server )

As of September 30, 2007, Georgia Southern University will no longer allow unsecured FTP connections for uploading files, or unsecured telnet to the Georgia Southern University server know as eagle4. As you know, eagle4 is not only the host for main and departmental web pages, but also the home of faculty, staff and student personal pages.

The action to replace FTP and telnet is part of an ongoing security program to strengthen the University's security for centralized and distributed servers. Secure FTP (WinSCP) is a newer version of the FTP protocol, proving securely encrypted and authenticated communications with the servers. SSH (PuTTY) is a secure protocol for connecting to host servers.

Any SSH or SFTP protocol will work when requesting a connection to Eagle4. We are recommending WinSCP and PuTTY below as protocols that we can readily support.

Secure FTP

Transferring files utilizing an FTP client requires a username and password. Classic FTP programs that have been previously utilized on campus, such as WS_FTP and Fetch, send your password in “clear text” to the server for verification. This means that the information is not encrypted or protected and easily intercepted.

Dreamweaver Users

If SFTP is built into your web development application, such as Dreamweaver , you can simply configure the program for SFTP. In Dreamweaver version MX 2004 or later, this is accomplished by checking the “Use Secure FTP” box on the FTP configuration screen

PC Users

Since ITS has incorporated WinSCP in our standard PC image for the last year, you may already have this secure protocol on your computer. WinSCP replaces the WS_FTP that was utilized in the past.

You can easily check what is installed on your workstation by clicking on the Start button and going to Programs. If you have WinSCP listed here, you are fine. If you do not have this installed on your workstation, please Click Here to view a Tutorial and download WinSCP to your hard drive.

Mac Users 

In the past, Fetch has been the FTP client that has been available for Mac OS 8/9 and Mac OS X. Because it is insecure (your password and other information are not encrypted and thus can be intercepted fairly easily), Fetch can no longer be used to access Georgia Southern University servers.

We are recommending the use of Fugu and CyberDuck as a secure FTP client for the Mac. Fugu has drag and drop functionality and is similar to WinSCP.

SSH – Secure Protocol for connecting to host servers

PC Users

Telnet, Secure Shell (SSH) and PuTTY are examples of protocols for connecting to host computers and using them interactively. While you are connected to the host server, your workstation acts like a “dumb” terminal as all the processing is taking place on the host server, not at your workstation.

Telnet is not a “secure” protocol (usernames and passwords are sent over the network in clear text which is easily hacked) and will be discontinued at Georgia Southern University. Instead of telnet, we will support PuTTY, a secure protocol that encrypts the usernames and passwords. If you do not have a copy of Putty, please click PuTTY to download the software.

Mac Users

Mac OSX comes preconfigured with an application that allows secure telnet connections. This Terminal utility can be found in the Applications/Utilities folder. To open a secure terminal session, please open the terminal application and go to the File menu and select New Command. In the New Command window please type slogin (for a secure login) and your user id@computer name (i.e., eagle4.cc.georgiasouthern.edu).

Please feel free to email the HelpDesk at helpdesk@georgiasouthern.edu or call us at 681.5429 with any questions.