SSH Multiplexing¶

If you use a Linux or MacOS computer and your workflow involves making a lot of connections to HiPerGator you may want to use SSH Multiplexing to avoid having to go through MFA for every connection. Again, this does not work for Windows computers natively! The BitVise and Tabby clients are the only SFTP/ssh client we are aware of that support ssh multiplexing.

In a nutshell, ssh multiplexing works by creating a TCP socket the first time a connection is made. That socket can be used by subsequent connections within the idle timeout period to create new connections without triggering MFA.

See Using SSH Multiplexing for reference.

Configuration for Multiplexing¶

To use SSH multiplexing, edit the ssh configuration file on your local computer (typically ~/.ssh/config) and add or modify the following entry. Be sure to change the 'albertgator' User to your username:

Host hpg
    User albertgator
    HostName hpg.rc.ufl.edu
    ControlPath ~/.ssh/cm-%r@%l-%h:%p
    ControlMaster auto
    ControlPersist 8h

MacOS Users

If you see a unix listener too long error, please follow the steps below:

Create a control directory in your ~/.ssh mkdir ~/.ssh/control
Update the ControlPath in your ~/.ssh/config file to the following ControlPath ~/.ssh/control/%C

After you make the necessary changes to your ~/.ssh/config file, use the following ssh command:

$ ssh hpg

NOTE: The "hpg" hostname is not a real hostname, instead it's a virtual hostname that you defined in the above configuration.