Windows 10 Built SSH Functionality

Windows 10 Built SSH Functionality

Windows 10 build 1803 April 2018 update now includes by default openSSH for Windows – no more WSL, emulation or other work arounds – a full blown fully integrated SSH client in Windows. the executables are stored in C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH and also include scp.exe and sftp.exe.

A great way of making this even more functional for daily use is creating what we’d call ‘aliases’ in the Linux world.

The very first time you attempt to SSH to a remote server a hidden ‘.ssh’ directory will be created in your users home directory.

Inside your ‘Hard Drive\Users\Username\.ssh’ directory create a file called ‘config’.

Here’s an example of one I use:

Host key
User xxxxxxxxx
HostName xxxxxx.xxxxxxx.com

Host austin
User xxxxxxxxx
Hostname 10.51.255.5
ForwardX11 yes H

ost tampa
User xxxxxxxxx
Hostname 10.140.9.17
ForwardX11 yes

Host vancouver
User xxxxxxxx
Hostname 10.100.65.20
ForwardX11 yes

Host cisco-lab
KexAlgorithms +diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
User xxxxxxxx
Hostname xxxxxxxxx

Now to ssh to the server called ‘key I can simple execute the command:

$ ssh key

Additionally you can put and/or generate SSH keys for easy key access to remote servers just as you would from any Linux/Unix workstation.