Back in 2017 Microsoft made OpenSSH available on Windows 10. Shortly after OpenSSH was also available for Windows Server, version 1709. This blog post should give you a simple step by step guy how you install OpenSSH Server on Windows Server. OpenSSH is available for Windows Server, version 1709 and higher. If you are running Windows Server 2016, and you want to stay in the long-term servicing branch, you will need to wait for the next Windows Server LTSC build.
Install OpenSSH Server on Windows Server
If you are running a Windows Server 1709 or higher, you can simply use PowerShell to install the OpenSSH Client and Server.
You can use the following PowerShell commands to install the OpenSSH Server on the server.
Get-WindowsCapability -Online | ? Name -like 'OpenSSH*'
# Install the OpenSSH Server
Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0After the installation you can find the OpenSSH Server files and some more configuration options under “C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH”
Next you need to configure the OpenSSH Server (sshd)
To start and configure the OpenSSH Server, just run the following PowerShell commands:
# Start the sshd service
Start-Service sshd
# OPTIONAL but recommended:
Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType 'Automatic'
# Confirm the Firewall rule is configured. It should be created automatically by setup. Run the following to verify
if (!(Get-NetFirewallRule -Name "OpenSSH-Server-In-TCP" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object Name, Enabled)) {
Write-Output "Firewall Rule 'OpenSSH-Server-In-TCP' does not exist, creating it..."
New-NetFirewallRule -Name 'OpenSSH-Server-In-TCP' -DisplayName 'OpenSSH Server (sshd)' -Enabled True -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -Action Allow -LocalPort 22
} else {
Write-Output "Firewall rule 'OpenSSH-Server-In-TCP' has been created and exists."
}Now you should be able to access your Windows Server using an SSH client.
Remember if you run your server in Microsoft Azure, you might also need to configure the Network Security Group to allow SSH Remoting on port 22.
I hope this post help you and if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.
