OpenSSH, now a part of the Windows Server 2019

Yesterday, Microsoft announced that the OpenSSH client and server are available as a supported feature-on-Demand in Windows Server 2019 and Windows 10 1809.

OpenSSH is a collection of client/server utilities allowing secure login, remote file transfer, and public/private key pair management. It originated as a part of the OpenBSD project and has been used across the BSD, Linux, macOS, and Unix ecosystems, for years.

In 2015, Microsoft said they would build OpenSSH into Windows, while also making contributions to its development. The Win32 port of OpenSSH was first included in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and Windows Server 1709 as a pre-release feature.

With OpenSSH in the Windows Server 2019, organizations can work across a broad range of operating systems and also utilize a consistent set of tools for remote server administration.

The community welcomes OpenSSH on Windows Server 2019

According to some on HackerNews, “Having used DSC and PowerShell remoting extensively, these create as many problems as they solve. Nothing works smoothly. Not a thing.
The saving grace here will be SSH because then at least we can drive all our kit across both platforms from Ansible and be done with the entire MSFT management stack.”

Another review says, “Mounting requires other ports to be opened, which no sysadmin will do on the internet. Ssh, on the other hand, can be started on a non-standard port.”

“SSH is an awesome tool & capability as a relatively high-level network channel. The defacto “shell” approach leads to a lot of problems when used as a management device. It encourages ad-hoc, unstructured, and opaque changes. Managing your hosts via Secure Shell simply leads to bespoke, unrepeatable, outcomes and crushing debt.”

To know more about this news in detail, visit the Windows official blog.

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