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This topic covers the Windows-specific configuration for OpenSSH Server (sshd).

OpenSSH maintains detailed documentation for configuration options online at OpenSSH.com, which is not duplicated in this documentation set.

Configuring the default shell for OpenSSH in Windows

Sample SSH Config File Example. Now I can just do SSH for one of these servers and the respective configuration option will be used for the connection (Here I have not defined any server1 in /etc/hosts and this mapping is working due to the SSH configuration file) deepak@client $ ssh server1 root@ 192.168.43.154 's password: Welcome to server1 This file was created on 2020-02-01 Go away if. Future Studio provides on-demand learning & wants you to become a better Android (Retrofit, Gson, Glide, Picasso) and Node.js/hapi developer!

Learn how to create an openssh config file to automate server login and create shortcuts for sshd server including advanced ssh client options. The server reads it's configuration from%programdata%sshsshdconfig. You can copy and paste that path into a Windows Run dialog (WIN+R) to open Explorer in the correct location. When configuring user/group based rules with a domain user or group, use the following format: user?domain. First I am fairly new to SSH. From this question I have seen the need and benefit of setting up an SSH config file. While I was doing my research I noticed that there is a lot to know on SSH and I also found out that I have been using SSH keys and not the SSH server.

The default command shell provides the experience a user sees when connecting to the server using SSH.The initial default Windows is the Windows Command shell (cmd.exe).Windows also includes PowerShell and Bash, and third party command shells are also available for Windows and may be configured as the default shell for a server.

To set the default command shell, first confirm that the OpenSSH installation folder is on the system path.For Windows, the default installation folder is SystemDrive:WindowsDirectorySystem32openssh.The following commands shows the current path setting, and add the default OpenSSH installation folder to it.

Configuring the default ssh shell is done in the Windows registry by adding the full path to the shell executable to ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREOpenSSH in the string value DefaultShell.

As an example, the following Powershell command sets the default shell to be PowerShell.exe:

Windows Configurations in sshd_config

In Windows, sshd reads configuration data from %programdata%sshsshd_config by default, or a different configuration file may be specified by launching sshd.exe with the -f parameter.If the file is absent, sshd generates one with the default configuration when the service is started.

The elements listed below provide Windows-specific configuration possible through entries in sshd_config.There are other configuration settings possible in that are not listed here, as they are covered in detail in the online Win32 OpenSSH documentation.

AllowGroups, AllowUsers, DenyGroups, DenyUsers

Controlling which users and groups can connect to the server is done using the AllowGroups, AllowUsers, DenyGroups and DenyUsers directives.The allow/deny directives are processed in the following order: DenyUsers, AllowUsers, DenyGroups, and finally AllowGroups.All account names must be specified in lower case.See PATTERNS in ssh_config for more information on patterns for wildcards.

When configuring user/group based rules with a domain user or group, use the following format: user?domain*.Windows allows multiple of formats for specifying domain principals, but many conflict with standard Linux patterns.For that reason, * is added to cover FQDNs.Also, this approach uses '?', instead of @, to avoid conflicts with the username@host format.

Work group users/groups and internet-connected accounts are always resolved to their local account name (no domain part, similar to standard Unix names).Domain users and groups are strictly resolved to NameSamCompatible format - domain_short_nameuser_name.All user/group based configuration rules need to adhere to this format.

Examples for domain users and groups

Examples for local users and groups

AuthenticationMethods

For Windows OpenSSH, the only available authentication methods are 'password' and 'publickey'.

AuthorizedKeysFile

The default is '.ssh/authorized_keys .ssh/authorized_keys2'. If the path is not absolute, it is taken relative to user's home directory (or profile image path). Ex. c:usersuser. Note that if the user belongs to the administrator group, %programdata%/ssh/administrators_authorized_keys is used instead.

ChrootDirectory (Support added in v7.7.0.0)

Ssh Server Config File Extension

This directive is only supported with sftp sessions. A remote session into cmd.exe wouldn't honor this. To setup a sftp-only chroot server, set ForceCommand to internal-sftp. You may also set up scp with chroot, by implementing a custom shell that would only allow scp and sftp.

HostKey

The defaults are %programdata%/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key, %programdata%/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key, %programdata%/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key, and %programdata%/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key. If the defaults are not present, sshd automatically generates these on a service start.

Match

Note that pattern rules in this section. User and group names should be in lower case.

PermitRootLogin

Not applicable in Windows. To prevent administrator login, use Administrators with DenyGroups directive.

SyslogFacility

If you need file based logging, use LOCAL0. Logs are generated under %programdata%sshlogs.For any other value, including the default value, AUTH directs logging to ETW. For more info, see Logging Facilities in Windows.

Free Ssh Server List

Not supported

The following configuration options are not available in the OpenSSH version that ships in Windows Server 2019 and Windows 10 1809:

Ssh Config File Proxy Server

• AcceptEnv
• AllowStreamLocalForwarding
• AuthorizedKeysCommand
• AuthorizedKeysCommandUser
• AuthorizedPrincipalsCommand
• AuthorizedPrincipalsCommandUser
• Compression
• ExposeAuthInfo
• GSSAPIAuthentication
• GSSAPICleanupCredentials
• GSSAPIStrictAcceptorCheck
• HostbasedAcceptedKeyTypes
• HostbasedAuthentication
• HostbasedUsesNameFromPacketOnly
• IgnoreRhosts
• IgnoreUserKnownHosts
• KbdInteractiveAuthentication
• KerberosAuthentication
• KerberosGetAFSToken
• KerberosOrLocalPasswd
• KerberosTicketCleanup
• PermitTunnel
• PermitUserEnvironment
• PermitUserRC
• PidFile
• PrintLastLog
• RDomain
• StreamLocalBindMask
• StreamLocalBindUnlink
• StrictModes
• X11DisplayOffset
• X11Forwarding
• X11UseLocalhost
• XAuthLocation