Accessing Files On Your iPhone: A Guide To SSH/SFTP For Windows Users (JAILBREAK)

by JD Abbey

March 16, 2009

Have you been recording videos with Cycorder but can't get the vidoes off of your phone? Have you been reading tutorials that require OpenSSH and you haven’t learned how to use it yet? I am going to give you a quick walkthrough of its installation and use in windows. We previously did a tutorial on how to use OpenSSH with mac, but we also wanted to throw a bone to all those Windows users out there.

Step 0 - Jailbreak your device

How to Jailbreak your device (Windows directions)

Step 1 - Install OpenSSH

Step number one is installing OpenSSH on your iPhone. First go to Cydia and install OpenSSH - located in the network section. You used to have to install the BSD subsystem, but this package is no longer available - and my SSH works fine without it - so luckily that's one less step.

Step 2 - Connect your device to your wireless network

Connect your iphone to the wireless network. Even if you are already connected, you will still need to go into wireless settings to get your local ip address. You will find this at settings>Wi-Fi now tap on the blue arrow button next to your wireless router. As with the image below, you will see your phone’s IP address of 192.168.1.111.

Step 3 - Disable Auto-lock

Go to Settings>general>Auto-lock and disable auto-lock. This is important because if your phone auto-locks then Wi-Fi is disabled, which is needed to stay connected with SSH.

Step 4 - Install a Windows SSH client application

Now that we have OpenSSH installed and our settings and IP are correct, we now have to switch over to our computer to install the software necessary to connect. I personally recommend WinSCP as the installation is simple and when used in norton commander mode, the file transfers are very simple. Make sure your desktop is connected to the same wireless network as your iphone.

Step 5 - Configure the SSH client application

We will now open WinSCP. Click New.

In the Host text box, enter your IP address. Leave the port number as 22. In the Username text box, enter root. In the password text box enter alpine. Do yourself a favor by clicking save and give it a name - this way you reconnect quickly if need be.

Enter a name for this connection and check the save password check box.

Step 6 - Connect to your device (now the magic happens)

Now select the saved connection we just created and click Login. You should now get a connecting window, and then WinSCP should begin populating the phones file system. Be aware that you may not be able to use the saved connection next time you try to use SSH as the phones IP address may change.

You now have access to the phone’s file system.

Step 7 - O.k. you are in, now what

You will now be ready to transfer files over for your projects. You can now move your cycorder videos off of your phone or add new custom SMS and email tones. This will be helpful for many jailbreaking projects and will help you gain a better understanding of the file structure of your iPhone. For some popular SSH hacks, you will require these directories: Cycorder: https://appadvice.com/var/mobile/Media/Videos Ringtones: https://appadvice.com/private/var/stash/Ringtones.Evvwhv SMS tones: https://appadvice.com/System/Library/Audio/UISounds Apps: https://appadvice.com/private/var/stash/Applications.5DjZ5y

Tips

A few tips for using OpenSSH with your iphone: Use Sbsettings to disable SSH when not in use as the password and username are the same for all phones equipped with OpenSSH. It enables it at startup so get used to disabling ssh every time you reboot phone Change password so that you can leave ssh enabled and not worry about unauthorized access You can also get your ip address with other apps such as SBSettings or WhatIP