Today, everyone is used to using the internet to transfer data from one computer to another. We do it via email and several other websites thinking we are 100% safe. That isn’t always the case. If your connection isn’t secure, it’s possible that any or all of your data can be intercepted and you can fall victim to a cyberattack.
To ensure that nothing of the sort ends up happening to you, it’s important that you make sure that you take the responsibility of setting up a secure connection yourself. This is so you protect both your own computer and the one that you are transferring the data to.
One of the most popular ways to do this is by establishing a secure connection via a network protocol called SSH. SSh stands for Secure Shell. This creates a tunnel that connects the two computers together. In order to establish this connection properly, you need to have the computers ready to go and enter the public and private keys for it to let you into the “tunnel”. In most cases, this works perfectly fine and the connection is made, but some of the time it doesn’t happen so seamlessly.
A common error people face while trying to establish their SSH connection is “SSH Error: Operation timed out”. This error might continue to pop up even if you try running your command again, although it seems totally unfixable and more like a roadblock, it’s actually not.
What is the SSH Error: Operation timed out?
The SSH error: “Operation timed out” simply means that whatever you told the server to do, took too long and the computer has stopped trying. There are a number of things that cause this issue. We will go over all of them one by one so you can rule them out one at a time and find out exactly what’s causing the issue.
Possible reasons for the SSH Error: “Operation timed out” and how to fix them
1. Sometimes, it’s normal for an operation to time out if you are trying to reach a computer that is on a different network. Most networks tend to not let everyone in, in order to be more restrictive. You could try again and see if you get through. Normally, you should be successful within the next few tries.
2. If you have been successful in establishing a connection using a certain network but can’t seem to get through again, check your network settings. It is possible that you aren’t connected to your network or your network is simply not operational. This would mean that your request never reaches the server at all and can’t go through. You will have to go and fix what is wrong with the network first and then try again. Once your network is in working order, your request should go through without timing out.
3. Make sure your computer has the relevant permission to access the SSH server. If the host has not allowed your IP address to join, this would also mean that even if you try, your request won’t go through. Typically you would receive an error like “Access denied” here but it’s possible for “Operation timed out” to show up as well. Contact the host and ask them to make sure that you already have access. If they find that you don’t, have them grant you access and try again. If this was the issue, it won’t be anymore.
4. Make sure that the server you are trying to connect to is up and running. Sometimes the server is down which means that you are essentially trying to connect to a server that doesn’t exist at that time. You will have to wait for the server to be up again to be able to successfully connect to it.
As far as SSH errors go, the “operation timed out” isn’t one that is too difficult to deal with and the steps we have mentioned above should help get you through. All you have to do is try out everything individually and you will find your root cause in no time!
