SSH Client is important for the PC users who work on multiple Operating Systems. This client lets you control your Linux server through Windows PC. Most people use third-party apps and software such as Putty to make use of the Linux Server through a Windows PC. But there’s a way to use the Built-in SSH on Windows 10 without Putty. Let’s see how it does!
Most PC users don’t trust the third-party apps and software when it comes to controlling the built-in applications or Operating System’s data. People used to avoid such third-party apps. They are not 100% compatible and lacks a lot of things which could break the security of the system. As soon as you are using the latest Windows 10 PC, you would not face any troubles as Microsoft provides SSH Client as a built-in function which you can use on your system.
PuTTy has been the most popular SSH Client and there are still hundreds of Windows users who make use of this Client to control their Linux systems. But since you are getting a built-in SSH Client with your Windows 10 system, you should not use such third-party clients. Using Windows’ own applications offer a secure platform as they are offered by Microsoft itself to its users.
Using Windows 10’s built-in SSH Client is pretty simple and the process is very straightforward. You don’t need to work more on the process or need to spend your time in the configurations of the system. The following step by step guidelines will show you how you can install SSH Client on your Windows 10 PC system which is the built-in SSH Client and not the third-party app.
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How to Enable Built-in SSH on Windows 10?
Some Windows 10 PCs have this application already installed on their systems. For that reason, we request you to kindly check whether the SSH Client is installed on your system or not. You can check the availability of this client on your system by using the Command Prompt Window. Follow these steps to check the availability of this Client.
Step 1:
Open your Windows 10 system and then Press the Windows Logo from the Keyboard. Click on to the Start Menu and a search bar will be showed up there.
Step 2:
Select the search bar and type in cmd there and click on to the option. This will launch the Command Prompt Window on your System.
Step 3:
When you see the Command Prompt Window, type in ssh and press Enter button.
Step 4:
If you see a list of command lines on your Command Prompt Window, this means the SSH Client is already installed on your system. You can skip the further steps and can start using this client by now as it is already installed.
If the SSH Client is not installed on your system, you will be displayed a message that command is not recognized. When you see such a message in the Command Prompt Window, you will have to install the Client application manually on your system. Thankfully, you don’t have to search for the app on the web as it is already in the Windows system. All you have to do is just search for it and install it manually. The following steps will show you how you can install SSH Client on Windows 10 system manually.
Step 1:
Open your Windows 10 system and press the Windows button and then select the Start Menu.
Step 2:
Type in Features and press the Enter button. This will show you the list of applications and other functions of the system.
Step 3:
Kindly select the Apps & features option from the presented menu.
Step 4:
Under the Apps & Features menu, you would see two more options from which you need to select “Manager optional feature”
Step 5:
The next screen will ask you to add a new feature to the system. Click on to Add a feature and scroll down the Window using Mouse. You would be presented with all the useful and optional apps which you could use on your system. Here, you will see an option OpenSSH Client with an Install button.
Step 6:
Just click on to the Install button and the SSH client app will be installed on your Windows 10 system.
This how you can install the built-in SSH Client on Windows 10 Operating System. Now, if you want to start using this client instead of PuTTy or any other third-party SSH Clients, then you need to follow a few more steps which will show you the actual way of using this client on a respective Windows 10 PC.
How to use SSH Client on Windows 10?
Note: SSH Client on Windows 10 has the same command line and syntax, so if you are already familiar with the SSH Client on Linux Operating System, then you will not find any major differences between the Windows 10 system and the Linux system while using this client app.
You can use the SSH Client on Windows 10 either with the Command Prompt or with the PowerShell Window. Both are Command-Line Interfaces provided by Microsoft. You can check out the differences between Command Prompt and PowerShell from this article.
Step 1:
The first thing you need to do here is establishing a connection to a new server. Follow this command to establish a new Server Connection.
ssh username@IP-address
Step 2:
You will be asked to log in to your system by entering your system’s password. If the Password features numeric characters, then the characters will not be displayed on the screen, but you could still type in the password. When asked, type in Yes and press the Enter key.
Note: As per experts, you should not rely on passwords. You should use SSH Key instead of using a password for the server’s connection establishments. For the security side, you should use SSH keys.
You will be logged into the server as the connection to the server will be established once you enter your login details and password. If you wish to learn how you can make use of the Windows Keys to start using them for SSH Client, then the following steps will help you out.
How to Log in with SSH Keys on Windows 10?
Thankfully, there are so many ways with which one can create an SSH Key for the authentication of the server. You can search for the ways and can find the suitable one as per your knowledge.
Your PC needs to have ssh-keygen to make use of the SSH Keys. You have to disable public passwords option from the system to add a new SSH Key for the authentication. Make sure to disable the password functionality on the system and then start using the SSH Key for the server connection and further use.
When you try to establish a connection between the client and the system, you will be asked to enter the password for authentication. Since we are going to use an SSH Key, you need to change the path to the key so that the server will be redirected to the new SSH Key and it will be authenticated by the key itself. You need to enter an additional parameter with -i.
Eg. “ssh -i C:\Users\mte\testkey [email protected]”
There’s a way to move your newly created SSH Key to a new folder which will redirect your connection automatically just by entering the parameter in the command prompt window. Just open the directory of the keys from the Command Prompt where you will see the name of the SSH Key which you want to move to a different folder. You can select the SSH Key and can move it manually from the folder.
After this, you will not be asked to enter the parameter for login. Your system will recognize the SSH Key and the authentication will be done itself.
Final Words:
Windows 10’s built-in SSH Client acts like the OpenSSH Client of the Linux systems. If you are familiar with the OpenSSH Client on a Linux system, then you will not find any difficulties while using this client on a Windows 10 system.