About OpenSSH

Getting Source

Resources

Operating Systems

Alternatives

OpenSSH is a FREE version of the SSH/SecSH protocol suite of network connectivity tools that increasing numbers of people on the Internet are coming to rely on. Many users of telnet, rlogin, ftp, and other such programs might not realize that their password is transmitted across the Internet unencrypted, but it is. OpenSSH encrypts all traffic (including passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other network-level attacks. Additionally, OpenSSH provides a myriad of secure tunnelling capabilities.

The OpenSSH suite includes the ssh program which replaces rlogin and telnet, and scp which replaces rcp and ftp. Also included is sshd which is the server side of the package, and the other basic utilities like ssh-add, ssh-agent, and ssh-keygen. OpenSSH supports protocol versions 1.3, 1.5, and 2.0.

OpenSSH is primarily developed by the OpenBSD Project, and its first inclusion into an operating system was in OpenBSD 2.6. The software is developed outside the USA, using code from roughly 10 countries, and is freely useable and re-useable by everyone under a BSD license.

Managing the distribution of OpenSSH is split into two teams. One team does strictly OpenBSD-based development, aiming to produce code that is as clean, simple, and secure as possible. The other team takes the clean version and makes it portable, so that it will run on many operating systems (these are known as the p releases, and named like "OpenSSH 2.1.1p4"). Please click on the provided link for your operating system.

The OpenBSD project sells an OpenSSH tshirt and poster. Sales of these items help to fund development.