Can I unfreeze bash or vim when SSH session freezes from timeout?

Question

When my SSH session times out, the whole terminal freezes.

Is there any way to break out of that connection? CTRL+C doesn't cut it.

Solution

You need to send the ssh escape sequence, which by default is ~ at the beginning of a line (in other words, preceded by a newline, or enter). Then send the disconnect character, which is ..

E.g.:

host1> ssh host2
Last login: Tue Jun  4 21:56:26 2013 from host1
host2>

(host2 freezes, press enter~.)

host2> Connection to host2 closed.
host1> 

See the ssh(1) manual:

-e escape_char
Sets the escape character for sessions with a pty (default: ‘~’). The escape character is only recognized at the beginning of a line. The escape character followed by a dot (‘.’) closes the connection; followed by control-Z suspends the connection; and followed by itself sends the escape character once. Setting the character to “none” disables any escapes and makes the session fully transparent.

Comments

[casey]

This answer is amazing