Looking for a crash course in SSH? SSH, The Secure Shell is a good place to start. Administrators and end users alike will find this a helpful guide to learning the ins and outs of SSH. You'll find step-by-step instructions on how to install, configure and use SSH. SSH, The Secure Shell includes instruction for the use of several versions of SSH and this new edition covers the latest versions of OpenSSH and SSH2 (now SSH Tectia).
The authors assume very little prior knowledge beyond a basic understanding of Telnet and FTP, so the read is not intimidating or overwhelming. The preface includes a handy chapter guide directing readers to which chapters are likely to be the most useful given their prior knowledge and interests. Personally, I found chapters 5-7 the most helpful. Covering configuration, key management and client use these chapters provide an in depth discussion of the topics and include detailed (and understandable) code examples. Another useful chapter offers case studies illustrating how you can use SSH with IMAP or Kerberos. I particularly liked that many of the chapters are full of straightforward diagrams and charts that help explain how SSH works or relationships such as that between keys and the network or between the client and server.
Overall this book will be useful for someone wanting to examine SSH in more depth and apply it in his or her own environment. Introductory chapters do a good job of explaining what SSH is and why it's a good thing. Later chapters explain step-by-step how to install OpenSSH and Tectia on Windows machines.
SSH, the Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide
