Does Windows 10 have a built-in SSH server?

Does the release version of Windows 10, as rumored, have built-in SSH server functionality? If so, how do I go about enabling it?

dansays

Posted 2015-08-03T19:58:20.720

Reputation: 233

The SSH is rumored for PowerShell, I don't think it is tied to the Windows 10 release. I haven't seen any news about a PowerShell update yet. – MC10 – 2015-08-03T20:04:17.470

They added it in the Fall Creator Update and you can add both the client and/or the server by going to (Settings > Apps > Manage optional features > Add a feature) and install it. Note, that it still bears the (beta) tag but I have used it and works effectively no different than Putty. – GµårÐïåñ – 2017-12-14T22:17:44.093

Answers

Short answer: Not yet, but it's coming.

Long answer: It's not actually part of Windows 10, but rather a new feature Microsoft is adding to PowerShell. Microsoft is working with and beginning to contribute to the OpenSSH project. This will effectively put an SSH server on Windows but you'll have to turn it on and have the latest version of PowerShell. I have not heard any release date for PowerShell with the OpenSSH functionality mentioned yet.

Additional reading arstechnica.com

Official Microsoft Announcement msdn.com

tbenz9

Posted 2015-08-03T19:58:20.720

Reputation: 5 868

It's been almost a year. Is it still coming? If it has already arrived, some links how to enable it would be very helpful. – uvsmtid – 2016-07-13T14:37:28.693

This answer is no longer correct. James Gibbons answer below is accurate as of the Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" that went out around August 1st. – Scott R. Frost – 2016-08-04T17:27:32.530

@ScottRFrost, this answer is correct; the SSH broker/proxy services are unrelated, and of limited use. They're intended for developer mode testing of UWP app deployment.

– Eryk Sun – 2016-11-04T03:43:45.110

Update: The newest technical preview versions of Windows 10 Anniversary update have two services "SSH Server Broker" and "SSH Server Proxy". These are both built-in to windows 10 Build 14366 and above. It is still unclear about the client however and I have been looking unsuccessfully for Microsoft documentation about these two services...

James Gibbons

Posted 2015-08-03T19:58:20.720

Reputation: 41

I can verify 2 weeks after your post there seems to be no documentation on SSH Server Broker or SSH Server Proxy available from Microsoft or anywhere else, I've gotten sshd up and running via Cygwin in the past but not sure how to do it via Bash on Ubuntu on Windows. – nomadrc – 2016-07-16T03:34:03.737

2I don't know about the documentation but on my system with the Windows 10 Anniversary update ssh is listening on port 22 and I can authenticate using my Windows user account and get a CMD shell environment. – mtinberg – 2016-08-10T02:36:00.930

These broker and proxy services are unrelated to the planned SSH server for Windows. They're used with Windows 10 developer mode enabled in order to deploy UWP apps.

– Eryk Sun – 2016-11-04T03:41:16.980

The fall creators update seems to have added the OpenSSH server and client as optional features. Settings > Apps & features > Manage optional features > Add a feature. In the list are OpenSSH Server and Client entries. Both marked beta. I installed the client, but had to reboot before the ssh command was available from PowerShell. – Larry Franks – 2017-11-10T13:58:45.373

Can confirm and adding to the answer from James Gibbons (can't comment):

SSH Server Broker and SSH Server Proxy are 2 new services present on Windows 10 Anniversary (can be found at running services.msc from command prompt or pressing win+r). This service is not running under the (Ubuntu) Linux Subsystem for Windows.

If enabled port 22 is open and you can login with a local user. The user must be in the Ssh Users group. With a Microsoft account the username is the one displayed at lusrmgr.msc

Configuration for this can be found at the registry on:

HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Ssh/Broker
HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Ssh/Sftp

Both of which are read-only except for TrustedInstaller. The configuration seems to be similar to OpenSSH since Microsoft is building a custom implementation for Windows. I also found this from the Microsoft Powershell Github repository on OpenSSH on installing OpenSSH:

https://github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH/wiki/Install-Win32-OpenSSH

Ricardo Wong

Posted 2015-08-03T19:58:20.720

Reputation: 11