Virtual Geek

I had a requirement to test configuring OpenSSH server on Microsoft Windows and connect it through OpenSSH client. Using given below steps in this article we can setup OpenSSH server on Windows server and connect through Linux SSH client.

First go to Settings >> Apps & features >> Optional features >> Add a feature >> Search openssh >> Select checkbox on OpenSSH Server >> and Click Install button.

Part 1: OpenSSH Server configuration for Windows
Part 2: Key based passwordless authentication to Microsoft Windows OpenSSH Server
Part 3: Configuring Ansible to Manage Windows Servers via OpenSSH

Additionally if you want to automate the above GUI instructions and need to automate OpenSSH server configuration using commands you can use below PowerShell cmdlets. Which will Install OpenSSH.Server capability, Next start sshd service and set startup type to Automatic. In the last open inbound TCP port 22 in the windows defender firewall.

Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object Name -like 'OpenSSH*'
Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0

##Alternatively use this command to install:
dism /Online /Add-Capability /CapabilityName:OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0

#############################################################################

Start-Service sshd
Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType 'Automatic'

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."
}

Here is the screenshot after installation and configuring all the settings through PowerShell commands.

Below is the configuration of OpenSSH Server service status and OpenSSH Inbound rule created in Windows Defender Firewall.

Since I am planning to implement this on Microsoft Azure I will open SSH 22 port in nsg (network security group) which is attached to Azure Virtual Machine, so there is no obstruction.

Here is the PowerShell script you can use to create inbound rule in Azure NSG

# Get the NSG
$nsg = Get-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -Name "your-nsg-name" -ResourceGroupName "your-resource-group"

# Define rule parameters
$ruleName = "AllowSSH"
$description = "Allow inbound SSH traffic"
$priority = 300
$protocol = "Tcp"
$sourceAddressPrefix = "*"
$sourcePortRange = "*"
$destinationAddressPrefix = "*"
$destinationPortRange = 22
$access = "Allow"

# Create rule config
$ruleConfig = New-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig `
  -Name $ruleName `
  -Description $description `
  -Access $access `
  -Protocol $protocol `
  -Direction "Inbound" `
  -Priority $priority `
  -SourceAddressPrefix $sourceAddressPrefix `
  -SourcePortRange $sourcePortRange `
  -DestinationAddressPrefix $destinationAddressPrefix `
  -DestinationPortRange $destinationPortRange

# Add rule to the NSG object
$nsg.SecurityRules.Add($ruleConfig)

# Apply the changes
Set-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -NetworkSecurityGroup $nsg

Once Windows server is fully configured with OpenSSH server, Next step is to check the connection from Linux system. Try connect using SSH it should be successful.

ssh administrator@win-openssh

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