Install openssh-server on Ubuntu, Linux Mint. Tagged with install, ubuntu, linux. Windows Server 2019 and the most recent version of Windows 10 include the ability to install both an SSH client and an SSH server. Because most of us work with heterogenous systems, we are familiar with SSH’ing into a server or device to perform admin tasks.
-->OpenSSH is the open-source version of the Secure Shell (SSH) tools used by administrators of Linux and other non-Windows for cross-platform management of remote systems.OpenSSH has been added to Windows as of autumn 2018, and is included in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019.
SSH is based on a client-server architecture where the system the user is working on is the client and the remote system being managed is the server.OpenSSH includes a range of components and tools designed to provide a secure and straightforward approach to remote system administration, including:
- sshd.exe, which is the SSH server component that must be running on the system being managed remotely
- ssh.exe, which is the SSH client component that runs on the user's local system
- ssh-keygen.exe generates, manages and converts authentication keys for SSH
- ssh-agent.exe stores private keys used for public key authentication
- ssh-add.exe adds private keys to the list allowed by the server
- ssh-keyscan.exe aids in collecting the public SSH host keys from a number of hosts
- sftp.exe is the service that provides the Secure File Transfer Protocol, and runs over SSH
- scp.exe is a file copy utility that runs on SSH
Documentation in this section focuses on how OpenSSH is used on Windows, including installation, and Windows-specific configuration and use cases. Here are the topics:
Additional detailed documentation for common OpenSSH features is available online at OpenSSH.com.
The master OpenSSH open source project is managed by developers at the OpenBSD Project.The Microsoft fork of this project is in GitHub.Feedback on Windows OpenSSH is welcomed and can be provided by creating GitHub issues in our OpenSSH GitHub repo.
Recently, Microsoft has released an early version of OpenSSH for Windows. You can use the package to set up an SFTP/SSH server on Windows.
On Windows 10 version 1803 and newer
In Settings app, go to Apps > Apps & features > Manage optional features.
Locate “OpenSSH server” feature, expand it, and select Install.
Binaries are installed to %WINDIR%System32OpenSSH. Configuration file (sshd_config) and host keys are installed to %ProgramData%ssh (only after the server is started for the first time).
You may still want to use the following manual installation, if you want to install a newer version of OpenSSH than the one built into Windows 10.
On earlier versions of Windows
Download the latest OpenSSH for Windows binaries (package OpenSSH-Win64.zip or OpenSSH-Win32.zip)
As the Administrator, extract the package to C:Program FilesOpenSSH
As the Administrator, install sshd and ssh-agent services:
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install-sshd.ps1
Configuring SSH server
Allow incoming connections to SSH server in Windows Firewall:
Either run the following PowerShell command (Windows 8 and 2012 or newer only), as the Administrator:
New-NetFirewallRule -Name sshd -DisplayName 'OpenSSH SSH Server' -Enabled True -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -Action Allow -LocalPort 22
or go to Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall1 > Advanced Settings > Inbound Rules and add a new rule for port 22.
Start the service and/or configure automatic start:
Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools and open Services. Locate OpenSSH SSH Server service.
If you want the server to start automatically when your machine is started: Go to Action > Properties. In the Properties dialog, change Startup type to Automatic and confirm.
Start the OpenSSH SSH Server service by clicking the Start the service.
These instructions are partially based on the official deployment instructions.
Setting up SSH public key authentication
Follow a generic guide for Setting up SSH public key authentication in *nix OpenSSH server, with the following difference:
Create the .ssh folder (for the authorized_keys file) in your Windows account profile folder (typically in C:Usersusername.ssh).2
For permissions to .ssh folder and authorized_keys file, what matters are Windows ACL permissions, not simple *nix permissions. Set the ACL so that only a respective Windows account have a write access to the folder and the file (what is the default access level, if you create the folder and the file, while logged in using the respective account).
Connecting to the server
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Before the first connection, find out fingerprint of the server’s ED25519 key by running .ssh-keygen.exe -l -f '%ProgramData%sshssh_host_ed25519_key' -E md5 from the OpenSSH installation folder (%WINDIR%System32OpenSSH or C:Program FilesOpenSSH), as the Administrator (with PowerShell, use $env:ProgramData instead of %ProgramData%):
C:WindowsSystem32OpenSSH>.ssh-keygen.exe -l -f '%ProgramData%sshssh_host_ed25519_key' -E md5
256 MD5:0d:df:0a:db:b4:e9:f1:08:d5:59:2b:91:8e:08:1c:78 martin@example (ED25519)
Start WinSCP. Login dialog will appear. On the dialog:
Make sure New site node is selected.
On New site node, make sure the SFTP protocol is selected.
Enter your machine/server IP address (or a hostname) into the Host name box.
Enter your Windows account name to the User name box. It might have to be entered in the format user@domain, if running on a domain.
For a public key authentication:
Press the Advanced button to open Advanced site settings dialog and go to SSH > Authentication page.
In Private key file box select your private key file.
Submit Advanced site settings dialog with the OK button.
For a password authentication:
Enter your Windows account password to the Password box.
If you Windows account does not have a password, you cannot authenticate with the password authentication (i.e. with an empty password), you need to use the public key authentication.
Save your site settings using the Save button.
Login using Login button.
Verify the host key by comparing fingerprint with the one collected before (see above).
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If you cannot authenticate to the server, and you are using Windows 10 Developer mode, make sure that your OpenSSH server does not conflict with an internal SSH server used by the Developer mode. You may need to turn off the SSH Server Broker and SSH Server Proxy Windows services. Or run your OpenSSH server on a different port than 22.