SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Command-Line Programs

The GUI client can be launched from the command line. This is useful for creating customized shortcuts, or other wrapper scripts (e.g., *.bat files).

The program is named SSHClient, and supports the following options:^[179]

-r

Reset all customizations made to the user interface (toolbars and menus). The client asks for confirmation before doing this.

-u [username]

Specify the remote username.

-h [hostname]

Specify the remote hostname (where the SSH server runs).

-p [port]

Specify the port number.

-f

Start using the file-transfer window instead of the terminal window.

A profile settings file (*.ssh2) can also be specified as the last argument on the command line.

The GUI client immediately initiates an outgoing connection if any of the -u, -h, or -p options, or a profile settings file, are specified. If no remote hostname is given (either by the -h option or a profile settings file), then the client prompts for connection parameters, with any other supplied values as defaults. Otherwise, the client starts in an unconnected state and waits for outgoing connections to be initiated manually.

The precedence for settings is (from strongest to weakest):

1. Command-line options

2. A profile settings file specified on the command line

3. Default profile settings files: either default.ssh2 or defaultsftp.ssh2 (if the -f option is used)

4. Hardwired default settings, if the default profile settings files do not exist

The Tectia Client package also supplies a set of command-line programs, including ...