I want to be able to use a secured web page on my shared web host to make SSH connections out to any destination. A shared web host is cheap and easy to maintain, and usually allows ssh to the web server. There are times I'd like to ssh into my web server, but don't have direct ssh connectivity.
I'm aware of consoleFISH, Ajaxterm, and Anyterm. The problem is consoleFISH is a man-in-the-middle by design, and Ajaxterm/Anyterm require running a daemon process on the hosting server. Web hosts can usually support cron jobs, but not continuously running daemon processes. Additional Apache modules are usually out, too, as they require reconfiguration of the server and affects all other customers.
Are there any software packages out there I can run on my shared web hosting account that provide a true ssh experience with these limitations?
There's a Java applet you can use to connect to any server you want:
MindTerm
Here's an example on usage (look at the source code).
Shell in a box. http://code.google.com/p/shellinabox/
I've used AjaxTerm and it seems to drop connections every few minutes. I tried AnyTerm via a subscription and that too lost connections. AjaxTerm and AnyTerm are a fixed size column and row width.
However shell in a box scales to your browser size giving you more rows and columns.
Installation is fairly simple there's a debian package you can download.
As a tip you can make the font smaller using zoom in/out in your browser. And for cut and paste the only way I could get it to work was to use Edit / Paste from your browser menu rather than CTRL/CMD v.