OpenSSH sshd on Windows Subsystem for Linux
Internal
Overview
This article contains the procedure to configure a Windows Subsystem for Linux sshd to start at boot and allow ssh access to the Windows host.
Procedure
UsePrivilegeSeparation
Turn UsePrivilegeSeparation off by setting:
UsePrivilegeSeparation no
This is required to prevent sshd startup error that manifests in logs as:
chroot("/var/run/sshd"): Function not implemented [preauth]
Regenerate Server Keys
Regenerate the server keys following the procedure described here:
This is required to prevent sshd startup error that manifests in the logs as:
debug1: list_hostkey_types: No supported key exchange algorithms
Configure User Access
Add allowed public keys in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
Set acceptable permissions:
cd ~ chmod -R go-rwx .ssh
Start the sshd Server at Boot
Passwordless Sudo
Give passwordless sudo privileges the user that is supposed to start the server, by editing the sudo configuration file with visudo. More details: Allow a user to run commands as root without a password.
Windows Startup Script
Create autostartssh.vbs with the following content:
set ws=wscript.createobject("wscript.shell")
ws.run "C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe -c 'sudo /etc/init.d/ssh start'",0
Automatically Execute the Windows Startup Script at Boot
Task Scheduler -> Create Basic Task -> ...
TODO: this did not work, revisit.
Status
/etc/init.d/ssh status
Start/Stop
/etc/init.d/ssh start|stop