Configure SSH server on Windows
NOTE: Windows 10 ≥ 1809 has OpenSSH built-in. Cygwin isn’t necessary for Windows SSH servers any more.
The robust OpenSSH server on Cygwin allows SSHing into a Windows PC for secure port forwarding Windows RDP. Use Public Key Authentication – it’s far stronger than any human usable keyboard password.
Setup
From Windows Command Prompt:
setup-x86_64 -P openssh
Cygwin SSH server setup: start Cygwin64 using “Run as Administrator” and type
ssh-host-config
- Privilege separation: yes
- strict modes: yes
- sshd as service: yes
- value of CYGWIN for daemon: (just press Enter key, don’t type anything)
- use a different name: no
Start
The Cygwin SSH server starts itself on reboot of Windows, but if you need to start it manually (e.g. for the first time upon installing)
cygrunsrv -S sshd
Test
- login to your Windows Cygwin SSH server from another PC.
- Under services.msc you should see the Status “started” for service “CYGWIN sshd”, and under the General tab the “path to executable” should be something like
c:\cygwin64\bin\cygrunsrv.exe
Configure
Cygwin SSH server config is in /etc/sshd_config. To make changes take effect, type
cygrunsrv -E sshd
cygrunsrv -S sshd
Notes
If you get
system error 1069 has occurred. The service did not start due to a logon failure
check the password on your “privileged server” cyg_server – maybe you typed it wrong.