openSSH On Windows

openSSH is a popular tool for performing operations using SSH, SCP and SFTP.  As of version 1809 of Windows 10 it actually comes bundled.  On the current version of the desktops at TC (version 1709), openSSH requires an installation as it is an optional feature.

Install Steps

Follow steps 1-5 from this link.  If you only want the openSSH client then this is good enough.  If you want to set up the openSSH server, generate keys, etc. then go ahead and look at the remaining steps.

You should now be able to type ssh, sftp, scp or any other openSSH commands into your command window.

Some Useful Info

Private Key Format

If you're using a private key with extension .ppk (Putty private key), this will have to be converted to openSSH format so that you can use it with openSSH.  To do this you'll have to download PuTTY and use PuTTYGen to export your key as an openSSH key as described here.

Sample Usage

If you want to send a file securely using SFTP:

1. Set up a configuration file for your sftp connection.  Call it "config" and put it in a folder called .ssh under your user folder (eg. c:\Users\{your name}\.ssh).

   Sample file:

   Host sftp2aws
       HostName      somehost.server.transfer.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com
       IdentityFile  C:\Users\{your name}\Documents\sftp2aws-key
       User          sftpaws
   	HostKeyAlgorithms ssh-rsa
       Compression   yes

   • Host - alias name for your connection
   • HostName - the actual destination of the sftp server
   • IdentityFile - your private key
   • User - username

2. Create a script holding command(s) to actually send the file.
   Sample script:

   put c:\yourfiletosend.txt
   exit

3. Run the sftp command:

   C:\>sftp -b C:\sftpScript.txt sftp2aws

   Here, the -b indicates you're running the sftp command in batch mode (ie. passing in a script) and sftp2aws is the connection you configured in your config file above.

   
   NOTE:  If this is the first time you are connecting to the sftp destination you may run into a problem because you don't explicitly trust the server's identity.  You may get the following message:

   Host key verification failed.
   Connection closed

   The best way to add this trust is to run the ssh command on the command line and answer yes to the question Are you sure...:

   C:\>ssh sftp2aws
   The authenticity of host 'somehost.server.transfer.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com (xx.xx.xxx.xxx)' can't be established.
   RSA key fingerprint is SHA256:blahblahblah.
   Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
   Warning: Permanently added 'somehost.server.transfer.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com,xx.xx.xxx.xxx' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
   Connection to somehost.server.transfer.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com closed by remote host.
   Connection to somehost.server.transfer.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com closed.

   This will create the known_hosts file in your .ssh folder if it isn't already there, and it will add an entry for the destination.  An entry in that file indicates the destination is trusted.