User guide Tools

Tools

The Tools menu in the toolbar holds network and SSH utilities.

SSH key generator… creates or edits SSH keys, like PuTTYgen:

  • Generate a new key of the chosen Type and Size: Ed25519 (default), RSA 2048/3072/4096 bits (3072 by default) or ECDSA P-256/P-384/P-521. DSA and SSH-1 keys are not offered: they are insecure and current OpenSSH rejects DSA. Keys come from the operating system's secure random generator, so there is no need to move the mouse.
  • Load… opens an existing private key, in OpenSSH format or PuTTY .ppk (v2 or v3), asking for its passphrase when it has one. Its comment and passphrase can then be changed (an empty passphrase removes it).
  • The dialog shows the public key in OpenSSH format and its SHA256: fingerprint, with Copy.
  • Save public key… (0644), Save private key… (0600, encrypted with the passphrase when there is one) and Save as PuTTY key (.ppk)… (PPK v3, 0600, for PuTTY or WinSCP) each ask before replacing an existing file.
  • Install adds the public key to a saved SSH session's ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, like ssh-copy-id: it logs in like a terminal tab (trust prompt, saved or typed password, jump hosts), creates ~/.ssh (0700) and authorized_keys (0600) when missing, and adds the key only once, whatever the login shell of that account is.

The private key never reaches the window: it stays in PlexusTerm's backend until it is saved, and is discarded when the dialog closes.

Port scanner… checks which TCP ports are open on a host name, an IPv4 address, a range (192.168.1.10-20) or a CIDR block (192.168.1.0/24, at most 256 hosts), for the chosen ports: Known ports (the default: FTP, SSH, Telnet, SMTP, DNS, HTTP, POP3, IMAP, HTTPS, SMB, MySQL, RDP, PostgreSQL, VNC and 8080), a Port range given in two fields (1 → 65535), or a Custom list such as 22,80,8000-8100 (the known ports when left empty). It only opens TCP connections (no root needed): 1 second per port, at most 256 at a time and 65536 per scan. Open ports appear as they are found, with the usual service name; Stop (or closing the dialog) cancels the scan.

Network scanner… asks for the range in separate fields, [192].[168].[1].[1] → [254] by default (typing a dot or a third digit moves to the next field; pasting an address, an a.b.c.d-e range or an a.b.c.0/24 network fills them all), and finds the machines in it by trying the common service ports (FTP 21, SSH 22, Telnet 23, HTTP 80, HTTPS 443, SMB 445, RDP 3389, VNC 5900). A machine is listed when one of them is open or actively refuses the connection, with its name (reverse DNS through getent, Linux), its MAC address (local ARP table, Linux, same subnet only) and its open services. New SSH session opens the session editor for a machine with SSH open. No ICMP is used, so machines that drop every connection are not found. Scan only networks you are allowed to scan.

Wake On LAN… powers on a machine of the local network: enter its MAC address (aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff or aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff) and send the magic packet. The broadcast address defaults to 255.255.255.255 and the UDP port to 9; use the subnet's broadcast address (for example 192.168.1.255) when the machine is on another network segment reachable that way. The machine needs Wake On LAN enabled in its firmware and network card. PlexusTerm confirms that the packet was sent; it cannot tell whether the machine woke up.

Show / Hide remote monitor toggles a bar under every SSH pane (also Remote monitor bar (SSH tabs) in Settings; on by default) with the server's CPU use, used/total memory, used/total space of /, network download/upload rate and number of logged-in users, refreshed every 3 seconds. It runs one read-only command over the tab's existing SSH connection (/proc, df, who; nothing is installed or left running) and needs a Linux server; anything else shows "Monitoring unavailable".