Microsoft bringing SSH to Windows and PowerShell

[RH00D]

SSH, coming to a PowerShell console near you!

SSH, or secure shell, is the mainstay of remote access and administration in the Linux world, and the lack of any straightforward equivalent has always been an awkward feature of the Windows world. While there are various third-party options, Windows lacks both a native SSH client, for connecting to Linux machines, and it lacks an SSH server, to support inbound connections from Linux machines.

 

The PowerShell team announced that this is going to change: Microsoft is going to work with and contribute to OpenSSH, the de facto standard SSH implementation in the Unix world, to bring its SSH client and server to Windows.

 

PowerShell is in some ways an obvious group to do such work; while PowerShell is arguably stronger as a scripting language than it is an interactive shell, it's nonetheless Microsoft's preferred tool for command-line Windows management and administration. The ability to connect securely to a Windows machine from a Linux one to use a PowerShell shell is a logical extension of PowerShell's capabilities.

 

While those looking for an SSH client for Windows have been able to use the (excellent) PuTTY, providing an SSH server, for inbound connections, has always been more awkward on Windows. Should this work be successful, it will mean that there's one less reason to install Cygwin on Windows systems, and that's sure to be welcomed.

 

Below is from the PowerShell team's announcement:

Finally, I'd like to share some background on today’s announcement, because this is the 3rd time the PowerShell team has attempted to support SSH.  The first attempts were during PowerShell V1 and V2 and were rejected.  Given our changes in leadership and culture, we decided to give it another try and this time, because we are able to show the clear and compelling customer value, the company is very supportive.  So I want to take a minute and thank all of you in the community who have been clearly and articulately making the case for why and how we should support SSH!  Your voices matter and we do listen.

 

Thank you!

 

Angel Calvo
Group Software Engineering Manager
PowerShell Team

 

It's great to see this kind of collaboration happening. The better interopability between different types of systems the less headaches for those that have to deal with mixed systems. +1 point for Satya Nadella allowing such collaboration. I was actually surprised they had tried to support SSH in the past but (previous) management rejected it.

 

Source: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/06/microsoft-bringing-ssh-to-windows-and-powershell/

Announcement: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/looking_forward_microsoft__support_for_secure_shell_ssh1/archive/2015/06/02/managing-looking-forward-microsoft-support-for-secure-shell-ssh.aspx

[Trik'Stari]

.....did I wake up in some bizarre alternate universe? I think I may have.

[TheExtra404]

i really enjoy using putty when i am SSHing(?) from my windows machine to the linux/unix servers for my classes in college so this is a nice change.

[Misanthrope]

Definitely a "Good news everybody!" moment that will undoubtedly be spoiled by someone claiming how innovative MS is for inventing ssh no doubt. Or well perhaps not, MS followers are not as bad as Apple ones though.

[Kherm]

This has to do with Microsoft doing something good, but I'm not exactly sure what. So yay!

[Blade of Grass]

Definitely a "Good news everybody!" moment that will undoubtedly be spoiled by someone claiming how innovative MS is for inventing ssh no doubt. Or well perhaps not, MS followers are not as bad as Apple ones though.

Fan boys are fan boys, I really don't see why you need to stir the pot by inferring that one is worse than the other.

[manikyath]

ssh on windows, its like microsoft finally realised telnet is getting a bit outdated.

 

this means my school needs to edit their books to tell microsoft uses encryption on remote terminals now.

(which they should after 30 years, my book mentioned cat4 as being high-end...)

[Misanthrope]

Fan boys are fan boys, I really don't see why you need to stir the pot by inferring that one is worse than the other.

 

[patrickjp93]

This has to do with Microsoft doing something good, but I'm not exactly sure what. So yay!

It's a remote access protocol to get to servers on the internet and log into them. It's a protocol ubiquitous across Linux and BSD machines, and it's about damn time Microsoft just built it into the programs in their command prompt engine (PowerShell).

[Embattled]

.....did I wake up in some bizarre alternate universe? I think I may have.

One where Micro$oft implements features people actually wanted?

[RH00D]

ssh on windows, its like microsoft finally realised telnet is getting a bit outdated.

 

this means my school needs to edit their books to tell microsoft uses encryption on remote terminals now.

(which they should after 30 years, my book mentioned cat4 as being high-end...)

 

I guess if your school's textbooks weren't so old they probably would have covered Windows Remote Management.

 

Here's a plain English-esque article about it, and this one comparing WinRM to SSH.

[manikyath]

I guess if your school's textbooks weren't so old they probably would have covered Windows Remote Management.

the teacher that attempted to teach me windows server has been using exclusively linux since 2003.

he was hired this year to teach windows server.

 

NOW, i'm not sure where the error happened, but i feel like somewhere between those two lines theres something missing.

(ps: his first quote in class is worth a tshirt: "hang on students, it's been a while for me as well")

[Trik'Stari]

One where Micro$oft implements features people actually wanted?

Next thing you know, I might find a girlfriend.

 

I'm scared of this bizarre alternate universe.

[RexinOridle]

Finally.

[Sidiox]

Fucking finally!!!

When I first started using SSH I couldn't believe that Windows didn't natively support it that was so confusing to me.

I'm sure this implementation will not be much better than something like MultiTabPutty but this is still an amazing new development.

[LAwLz]

Better late than never. This is good news for anyone who uses remote management on Windows.

Does anyone know why they removed it before? I just don't get it. Maybe they were trying to push WinRM but that ship sank the moment it left the dock. Everyone using Windows just gets PuTTY and then SSH instead, since that's what everyone else supported.

[vm'N]

Better late than never. This is good news for anyone who uses remote management on Windows.

Does anyone know why they removed it before? I just don't get it. Maybe they were trying to push WinRM but that ship sank the moment it left the dock. Everyone using Windows just gets PuTTY and then SSH instead, since that's what everyone else supported.

Not sure. Microsoft has always been notorious for trying to implement their own standard, instead of a already existing one.