Windows 10 SSH Aliases

Windows 10 build 1803 April 2018 update now includes by default openSSH for Windows – no
more WSL, emulation or other work arounds – a full blown fully integrated SSH client in Windows.

The executables are stored in C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH and also include scp.exe and sftp.exe.

A great way of making this even more functional for daily use is creating what we’d call ‘aliases’ in the
Linux world.

The very first time you attempt to SSH to a remote server a hidden ‘.ssh’ directory will be created in
your users home directery.

Inside your ‘Hard Drive\Users\Username\.ssh’ directory create a file called ‘config’.

Here’s an example of one I use:

Host name
User xxxxxxxxx
HostName xxxxxx.xxxxxxx.com

Host name1
User xxxxxxxxx
Hostname 1.2.3.4
ForwardX11 yes

Host name2
User xxxxxxxxx
Hostname 4.5.6.7
ForwardX11 yes

Host name3
User xxxxxxxx
Hostname 6.7.8.9
ForwardX11 yes

Host name4
KexAlgorithms +diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
User xxxxxxxx
Hostname xxxxxxxxx

Now to ssh to the server called ‘key I can simple execute the command:
$ ssh key

Additionally you can put and/or generate SSH keys for easy key access to remote servers just as you
would from any Linux/Unix workstation.

Great job Microsoft !