Hey why do web hosting companies not offer that as rule? I mean not every ones? Lunarpages do not provide that at all, Hqhost.net for request only. But some companies like Santrex.net offer that as separate service: http://santrex.net/shellaccounts.php
I wonder is it something dengerius for web hosting company to give shells for the customers. And why different companies offer different level of access via shell?

Supporting a service that most people don't care about is an additional expense. There is also the question of, why does somebody even NEED shell access? Most of the things that they want to allow you to do on their servers are accessable through a web interface. They don't want you using their servers to do anything "proccessor intensive", which is a real threat if you have shell access.

In short, providing it would drive up cost, but would not really attract customers, except those who are the hardest to please, and most "resource intensive" to provide to.

Yep I agree with Keith.

The very last thing we would consider is giving anyone and everyone shell access. We work on the principle of "If they can break it, they probably will!", so shell or TS access (windows server) is limited to a few (very small list) users who we know can be trusted with the whole server.

Thank you very much guys.
So on the several companies I need to be verified first as trusted customer and then I can hope for shell?

Well, another important question is what are you hoping to do on the shell? Most companies that give you shell access severely limit what you are and aren't allowed to do on the shell. If it's something you REALLY need, look into a really cheap VPS. VPS prices have gotten VERY competitive lately....

One of my requirements is a shell. I like feeling like I can just open the vi editor and make changes without relying on FTP all the time. That's primarily why I have one.

To those who offer web hosting: few people really do request it, though, right? In all of my cases, it was either for a VPS or I was required to fax some form of identification (a driver's license usually suffices) to get access. I assume that turns off a good chunk of people (unless, of course, they're picky like I am)

But it must be in the shared plan.

I like feeling like I can just open the vi editor and make changes without relying on FTP all the time.

And what will stop you from editing for example httpd at the same time?

No one would put sign on the Bank doors saying: "Come and get it" and yet you expect SysAdmin to give you Telnet/SSH access to the most important assets web hosting company has, the root. I don’t think so.


fastreplies

I don't see tamar saying anything about root. It's pretty clear to me that she was talking about simple SSH access.

That's silly. Nobody who gives shell access gives you carte blanche access to the whole server. About the only real damage you can do is run something processor-intensive, and they have monitors that can automatically detect stuff like that.
---scott
< link drop removed >

Originally Posted by HowLong

But it must be in the shared plan.

Sorry what? Please read the rest of the thread before posting. As a number of people posted (and I agree), shell access is usually not necessary. The vast majority of customers will do fine with just FTP on a shared plan - shell access only becomes important once you've got a VPS or a dedicated server.

Dan

By giving Shell access you will allow remote access to multifileupload.php.

Multifileuploadhandler.php handles upload request posted from multifileupload.php will allow users write files to the filesystem, including root.

There are many others ways to hack your way to root by using Shell as gateway and if it's working with banks, government and even M$, then your sh*tbox can be compromised before you can type "oh no"

Does any of you wanna give me Shell access?


fastreplies

Originally Posted by fastreplies

And what will stop you from editing for example httpd at the same time?

Hey, if you're going to make your own bed, you're going to have to sleep in it. If you're daring enough to edit httpd.conf, hopefully you've made a backup. Otherwise, you're SOL if you screw it up.

(In other words, on sites where I have root SSH, I pretty much know what I'm doing. I guess since I used to be a sysadmin on a server with over 400+ domains, I am not afraid of shell access.)

But like Dan said, I'm not talking about root. I'm just talking about making basic changes, not administrative changes. I understand exactly where you're coming from, though.

I agree with Keith. VPS has root acces. And you will allow yourself shell

Still shell is a feature of hosting plans from a lot of companies, I think smaller companies tend to be more flexible in this respect, so this may be an issue to think about while choosing a provider. Webhostingbuzz.com do this on all their shared plans.

From CuteFTP you can chmod your files, edit configuration, move, rename, delete, create directories etc. and if you need something custom then tech support usuly will help you out.

So, why do you need to use shell access if you can do whatever you need from within
any good FTP program?


fastreplies

I strongly agree with fastreplies, for once .

Originally Posted by fastreplies

From CuteFTP you can chmod your files, edit configuration, move, rename, delete, create directories etc. and if you need something custom then tech support usuly will help you out.

So, why do you need to use shell access if you can do whatever you need from within
any good FTP program?


fastreplies

Simple.

CLI vs. GUI.

I'd rather type

chmod 755 *.pl

instead of having to select all the .pl files in the directory, right click, and then select the read, write and execute permissions for each individual attribute.

It's a preference with mouse versus typing. I prefer the command line interface. Your mileage may vary.

I'm sure fastreplies would prefer his server not being hacked, over saving 2 seconds of others' time. .

I do understand the point your getting at though.

Oh come on tamar

You know very well that in CuteFTP you don't have to even check boxes to chmod your files, just enter the numbers and click Ok. How long does it take?

I can tell you for sure it will take less time for you to highlight 1 or 21 file and type 755 than type chmod 755 *.cgi *.pl

Let me ask you something
Would you rather prefer to feel comfortable knowing that your host is taking every possible step to protect servers that host your site from downtime due to hacking or, the hell with security, just let them in?


fastreplies