Connect to kernel dialog needs to be clearer that either the SSH keyfile *or* the password is required

Problem Description

Several users have stated that the connect to kernel dialog is confusing when connecting to a remote kernel, because it isn’t clear that either a SSH keyfile or a password is required, not both—and looking at it now, I can see why.

User Reports

In particular, on our Gitter, a user said:

Hi, I am trying to connect Spyder on my PC (running within Anaconda) to a remote ipython kernel on an AWS EC2 AMI and I’m struggling. I followed the instructions here: http://docs.spyder-ide.org/ipythonconsole.html#connect-to-an-external-kernel and the kernel is running fine on the EC2 AMI and I have the JSON file on my PC but I’m not sure what to enter in the ‘Connect to an existing kernel’ box. I add the path to the JSON file in the ‘Connection info’ box. I check the ‘This is a remote kernel’ box. I enter my EC2 host: ‘ec2-user@blah-blah:8888’ and then get stuck on the SSH key and password boxes. When I connect to the EC2 AMI from MobaXterm I use an imported Putty key (.ppk) file (and don’t use a password) whereas the Spyder dialogue box is asking for a .pem file. Do I need the original AWS .pem key?

And on spyder-ide/spyder-docs#78 , @jsh9 said:

It might also be worth noting (either in Spyder’s UI, or in the documentation) that the “ssh key” field is optional. I spent quite some time googling what ssh key file I should provide to no avail. Other users may run into the same confusion.

Proposed Solutions

I’ll clarify it in the docs as part of spyder-ide/spyder-dcos#78 , but it needs to be clearer in the UI too.

One possibility would be including the text “Or” between the two fields and grouping them in some way, e.g.

Host name: ____________________________

SSH Key: _______________________________ Or Password: ______________________________

Alternatively, we could just include a line of explanatory text above the two fields saying only one of the two are required, e.g.

Host name: ____________________________ Only one of the following is required: SSH Key: _______________________________ Password: ______________________________

[ccordoba12]

@ccordoba12 Thoughts?

Sure, we can do this for Spyder 4.

I can even think about if Spyder could itself start a remote kernel if given the ssh credentials

The Jupyter team has done some experimental work to make this a reality:

https://github.com/takluyver/jupyter_ssh_kernels

However, I don’t know when this could be available for general consumption.

[ccordoba12]

Alternatively, we could just include a line of explanatory text above the two fields saying only one of the two are required

I like this option.