Part 2: Connect from your computer

8. SSH from Windows#

What you'll do: the same as Chapter 7, from a Windows 10 or 11 PC. SSH is already built into Windows. Time: 20 minutes. Read the "What is a key?" picture in Chapter 7 if you skipped it.

Open PowerShell: press the Windows key, type PowerShell, press Enter. The prompt looks like PS C:\Users\alex>.

Step 1: Check SSH is installed#

ssh -V

You should see something like OpenSSH_for_Windows_9.5.

Step 2: First connection (with password)#

ssh alex@homeserver.local

Answer yes to the fingerprint question, type the server password, then exit.

Step 3: Make a key#

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519_homeserver" -C "windows-homeserver"

Choose a passphrase and save it in your password manager.

Step 4: Copy the public key to the server#

Windows has no ssh-copy-id, so use this one line instead (it's long, so copy it whole):

type "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519_homeserver.pub" | ssh alex@homeserver.local "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys && chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Type the server password. No output means success.

Step 5: Create a shortcut#

notepad "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\config"

If Notepad asks to create the file, click Yes. Paste the following, then click File → Save:

Host homeserver
    HostName homeserver.local
    User alex
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_homeserver
    IdentitiesOnly yes

Step 6: Stop typing the passphrase every time#

Open PowerShell as administrator (right-click PowerShell → Run as administrator):

Set-Service -Name ssh-agent -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service ssh-agent

Close it. In a normal PowerShell:

ssh-add "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519_homeserver"

Type the passphrase once. Windows remembers the key, even after a restart.

Step 7: Test#

ssh homeserver

Next: 9. SSH from an iPhone (optional) or 10. Lock SSH