Microsoft now supports OpenSSH in Windows Server 2019 — Redmondmag.com

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Microsoft now supports OpenSSH in Windows Server 2019

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that the OpenSSH solution used for remote management is now a supported “Features on Demand” addition in Windows 10 version 1809 and Windows Server 2019.

OpenSSH is an open source Secure Shell Host (SSH) command-line solution overseen by the OpenBSD Foundation. It is traditionally used to remotely manage Linux and Unix servers. However, Microsoft had described in June 2015 that it was working with the OpenSSH community to make it also work with Windows clients and servers, as well as PowerShell. Microsoft also began at this time to contribute money to the OpenBSD Foundation as a Gold Contributor.

OpenSSH was already a supported feature in Windows 10 version 1803, released in April. However, Microsoft’s announcement on Tuesday noted that OpenSSH “was not a supported version on Windows Server [2019] so far.”

Support for OpenSSH on Windows Server 2016 was not mentioned in Microsoft’s announcement, so apparently this support is not being backported to the older server product. Microsoft’s “OpenSSH in Windows” document also does not mention support on Windows Server 2016.

Microsoft defines OpenSSH as “a set of client/server utilities that enable secure remote login, remote file transfer, and management of public/private key pairs” that originated with the OpenBSD Project for “Ecosystems BSD, Linux, macOS and Unix”. OpenSSH support in Windows Server 2019 is just another tool IT pros can use. This will allow them to remotely manage Linux servers from Windows Server 2019, or vice versa.

Microsoft referred IT professionals to this document on “OpenSSH Key Management”, which offers PowerShell commands for this purpose. There are also commercial solutions available to help with key management when using OpenSSH. For example, see this interview with SSH Communications for an example.