The Tectia client/server solution is used by system administrators as a replacement for unsecured login protocols, such as Rlogin, Telnet, and FTP. The Tectia Client software is installed in the system administrator's workstation and the Tectia Server software in the managed server. Typically, the number of servers is much higher than the number of client installations. In numerous active Tectia implementations there are thousands of Tectia Server instances installed within a corporate network.

With the Tectia client/server solution, administrators can log in to remote hosts securely, as their user ID and authentication information are transmitted over the network in encrypted format.

Figure 2.2. Connecting to a remote server with Tectia SSH Terminal

Users can connect to remote servers also with a command-line tool. In this example, a user named Susan connects to a server host for the first time, and receives the host key for validation:

$ sshg3 susanstrict@examplehost
Host key not found from database.
Key fingerprint:
xecic-fifub-kivyh-kohag-zedyn-logum-pycuz-besug-galoh-gupah-xaxby
You can get a public key's fingerprint by running
% ssh-keygen-g3 -F publickey.pub
on the keyfile.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Since users typically connect repeatedly to the same servers, they can create their own set of Connection Profiles which include all information for establishing the connection.

Figure 2.3. Configuring connection profiles

With the Tectia client/server solution, login can be easily done also in heterogeneous network environments including Windows, Unix, Linux, and IBM mainframe systems. This eliminates the need to deploy and maintain Secure Shell implementations from multiple vendors.