Connect over SSH on Chrome OS easily
If you use SSH a lot and want an easy app to use on your Chromebook, you’ll love GSSH. It’s an easy-to-use, GUI SSH tool that makes connecting to SSH servers very easy. Here’s how to use it on your Chromebook’s Linux system.
How to enable Linux on Chrome OS
Linux must be enabled on your Chromebook before you can install the Gssh program on your system. To enable Linux, start by clicking on the clock icon in the Chrome OS dash. Then, once you’ve clicked the clock icon in the Chrome OS dash, look for the “gear” icon, and select it with the mouse. By clicking this button, you’ll open the Chrome OS settings area.
Inside the Chrome OS settings area, locate “Advanced” and click on the arrow next to it. When you select the arrow, Chrome OS will reveal a lot of Advanced options to choose from. Look through the options, and select “Developers.” Then, inside the “Developers” area, find “Linux developer environment,” and select it with the mouse.
Inside the “Linux developer environment” area, find the “Turn on” button and click on it with the mouse. When you select this button, Chrome OS will begin downloading a Debian Linux container to your Chromebook. It’ll also set up the Chrome OS terminal app. When everything is done downloading, Chrome OS will launch a terminal app. In this terminal app, find “Penguin,” and select it with the mouse. Choosing “Penguin” gives terminal access to the Debian container in Chrome OS.
Inside the terminal, use the apt update command to refresh the Linux container’s software sources.
sudo apt update
Once all of the Linux container’s software sources are up to date, it is time to update the Linux container’s software packages.
sudo apt upgrade
When the software packages in the Linux container are installed, you’ll be able to install many Linux apps, including the GSSh application.
How to install Gssh on your Chromebook
The Gssh application works on Chromebook, but you need to install it as a Linux application from the Flathub app store. To do this, you must have the Flatpak runtime installed and configured.
To set up the Flatpak runtime on your Chromebook, start by opening up the Chrome OS terminal app. Once it is open, select “penguin” in the terminal to access the Chrome OS Debian Linux container.
Inside the Chrome OS Debian container, use the apt install command to install the “flatpak” package. This package handles everything to do with Flatpak apps on your Chromebook.
sudo apt install flatpak
Once the “flatpak” package is installed, the setup process isn’t complete. You still need to set up the Flathub app store. This store is the most popular Flatpak app store. It has many programs to install, including Gssh. To enable it, use the following flathub remote-add command below.
flatpak --user remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
With the Flathub app store enabled on your Chromebook in the Debian Linux container, the Gssh app is easily installed. To get it working on your Chromebook, use the following flatpak install command below.
flatpak install flathub io.github.gssh_linux.gssh
When the command above finishes running on your system, you will be able to launch the Gssh app from the “Linux apps” folder in the Chrome OS app menu.
How to use Gssh to connect to SSH servers
To start, launch the Gssh app. Once it is open, you’ll see a very basic “GSSH” window. This window shows “IP Address,” “User,” and a few buttons. To start, click the “IP Address” box, and enter the address of the remote machine you plan to connect to.
Note: if you are unsure what the IP address of the remote machine you wish to connect to, you can use the hostname in the “IP Adress” slot instead.
Once you’ve entered the IP address, find the “User” slot, and click on it. Then, enter the remote user account you’re using to connect over SSH. If you need to connect over root, enter the “root” username.
With the username and IP address entered, find the “Connect” button, and click on it with the mouse. When you select this button, you’ll get a prompt in the Gssh pop-up terminal window. This message says “The authenticity of host ‘YOUR SSH HOST’ can’t be established.”
Type “Yes” in the prompt to confirm you wish to fingerprint your Chromebook to the remote SSH server, allowing it to connect. You’ll then be prompted to enter the remote SSH server password. Use the Chromebook keyboard to enter your password to connect to the remote SSH server.
Once Gssh is connected over SSH via your Chromebook, you’ll be able to use the terminal on your Chrome OS device to control the remote server. To disconnect, simply close the Gssh window.
