Paradox Designs

For irc addicts like myself, being connected is essential. When you are a channel operator, the need to be connected can be even greater. With a free app for android, you can connect to irssi from anywhere!

Prerequesits

This article is written assuming a few things. First, and foremost, you must have irssi, a linux server, ssh, and gnu screen. You must know how to use all of these. You must have an irssi session running in a screen, accessable from ssh.

If you are looking for a good guide to get setup, this should help you out.

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Download connectbot

Connectbot is the simple app that makes this all possible. Connectbot is a ssh client, developed specially for android. It let’s you recreate a ssh terminal, complete with any formatting and effects, making it perfect for irssi.

Connectbot also let’s you use an openSSH key¹, so you can even connect to a host that requires a private key.

So, what are you waiting for? Go download connectbot.

Connect and config

Connecting to a session is very simple. When you open connectbot, just type the host in user@host:port format at the bottom of the screen. You probably don’t have to enter a port, as it defaults at 22. The connection type box should be set to SSH.

Hit enter, and you should start to connect to the host. Depending on the host, you will be met with varying levels of success. Connectbot will also remember your host, so you can connect easily in the future

Using a private key

Many hosts, mine included, use private keys over password auth. Attempting to connect to the host without one specified probably gave you an error.

First, you need to copy your private key over to your phone. On windows, use PuTTYGen or something similar to make/view your key. Look for copy openSSH key or similar. Paste this key in a text file, and put it on your sd card.

On the main connectbot screen, long press on the entry for the host, and select Edit host. The editing window that pops up gives you all kinds of options. You can, for example, change the name that appears in the list, or the color of the list entry.

We are concerned with one option: Use pubkey authentication. Set this to openSSH. That’s all you need to do in optipns now, but feel free to config the settings.

Back up to the main menu, click the menu button, and click Manage Pubkeys. Click menu again, and click import. Select the key from the root of the sd card. You can also generate keys, so you could have a special key for your mobile as well, for added security.

You’re now ready to use this key.

Using connectbot

Connectbot is full of settings. You can, for example, make it send a command as soon as it is connected²

You also can customize the shortcut buttons. For irssi, setting the camera button to esc can prove quite helpful.

Bumping the rocker buttons increases the font size, and shrinks the terminal, so adjust as you see fit. The right shift and alt buttons have alternate functions, tab and /.

You can set connectbot to buzz on beeps, very useful for irssi.

Conclusion

Hopefully you will now be able to chat from anywhere, as well as use any other service you could access via ssh. I often use connectbot to fix a small css error or similar problem, and it can be useful for many other things.

1. It has to be openSSH, not a ppk or the like [↩]
2. useful for things like screen -x [↩]