Have you ever wanted to control your Windows remotely using the command line? With the SSH network protocol, you can! Telnet is another way to achieve this, but it is not as secure as SSH. In this simple guide, I will tell you on how to setup a SSH server in Windows with freeSSHd.

With this setup, you can now access and manage your PC from another computer using the Windows command line. That means that you can copy, edit, move and delete files inside your home computer from another computer in the office, for example. Furthermore, the SSH network protocol secures the connection between the two connected computers! If you are interested, you can read more on SSH .

Step 1: Setup SSH Server in Windows with freeSSHd

This is an absolute noob guide , so I’ll explain in detail. If you are an advanced user (boo!), you are welcome to skip the installation steps.

1- freeSSHd is the easiest software to use to get SSH working in Windows. Download freeSSHd before proceeding any further.

2- Double click the freeSSHd installer that you have downloaded to get started.

3- Click Next -> Click Next (or you can change the default installation directory) -> Click Next (Full Installation) -> Click Next (Start Menu Folder) -> Click Next (Create a desktop icon) -> Click Install (ready to install) -> Wait until installation has been finished -> Click Close (Try other products…)

4- “Do you want to run freeSSHd as a system service?” I choose “No” so I can start freeSSHd manually. This is a good security practice because you don’t want to have running applications in the background if you are not using it. Only turn freeSSHd on when the need for remote connections arise!

5- Click Finish to complete freeSSHd installation.

Step 2: Run freeSSHd

6- Double click the freeSSHd icon on the desktop to load your SSH server. You can see the freeSSHd icon on your system tray.

7- Right click on the icon and click Settings.

8- Make sure that the freeSSHd settings page (Server Settings tab) shows that your“SSH server is running”.

Step 3: Create a New SSH User

9- Click on the Users tab. You need to create at least one user account that will act as your SSH remote user account.

10- Click “Add” to create a new user. Fill in the user details, following the example shown below (with your own unique username and password, duh!). Click OK and make sure it appear on the Users tab list.

Step 4: Test SSH Access with Putty (Local)

11- Using the same computer that you install freeSSHd previously, download Putty. Putty is a desktop command line client that you can use to access SSH servers.

12- Double click the Putty installer to run it. Fill in the details as shown in the diagram below. 127.0.0.1 means that you are testing the SSH access from a local connection.

13- Press “Yes” on the security alert screen. Insert your SSH username and password that you have created previously.

14- If you get a Windows command prompt, you have successfully access your SSH server! Congratulations!

15- Connect your computer to the Internet / local network and take note of your computer’s IP address.

Step 5: Test SSH Access with Putty (Remote)

16- Using another computer e.g. your office computer, download Putty again.

17- Repeat step 12 to 13 above but this time, use your SSH server IP address (type it inside Host Name or IP Address field).

18- If you get a Windows command prompt, you have successfully access your SSH server from a remote computer! Double congrats to you!

There you go, a complete noob guide to setup a SSH server in Windows, using the super simple freeSSHd application. Be geeky and try it today!