Openssh-server

Openssh-server is a sandboxed environment that allows ssh access without giving keys to the entire server. Giving ssh access via private key often means giving full access to the server. This container creates a limited and sandboxed environment that others can ssh into. The users only have access to the folders mapped and the processes running inside this container.

Image details

Pulls: 28.1M

Architectures: amd64, arm64

Image size: 15 MB

User: linuxserver

Created: Oct 22, 2019

Updated: 1 day ago

Status: active

Configuration

Type

Container

Platform

linux

Image

linuxserver/openssh-server:latest

Ports

2222:2222/tcp

Volumes

/config : /srv/lsio/openssh-server/config

Env vars

PUID=1000PGID=1000TZ=Etc/UTCPUBLIC_KEY=yourpublickeyPUBLIC_KEY_FILE=/path/to/filePUBLIC_KEY_DIR=/path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeysPUBLIC_KEY_URL=https://github.com/username.keysSUDO_ACCESS=falsePASSWORD_ACCESS=falseUSER_PASSWORD=passwordUSER_PASSWORD_FILE=/path/to/fileUSER_NAME=linuxserver.ioLOG_STDOUT=

Restart

unless-stopped

Template by technorabilia

Notes

Portainer App Templates by Technorabilia, based on data provided by LinuxServer.io.

Ensure to create the following volume directories on the host file system, or modify the paths in the volume mapping section under the advanced options below, as needed.

mkdir -p /srv/lsio/openssh-server/config

Installation

Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
Log into your Portainer web UI
Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
Select the app you wish to deploy, fill in any config options, and hit Deploy

Template Import URL

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json

Show Me

docker run -d --name Openssh-server \
  -p 2222:2222/tcp \
  -e 'PUID=1000' \
  -e 'PGID=1000' \
  -e 'TZ=Etc/UTC' \
  -e 'PUBLIC_KEY=yourpublickey' \
  -e 'PUBLIC_KEY_FILE=/path/to/file' \
  -e 'PUBLIC_KEY_DIR=/path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeys' \
  -e 'PUBLIC_KEY_URL=https://github.com/username.keys' \
  -e 'SUDO_ACCESS=false' \
  -e 'PASSWORD_ACCESS=false' \
  -e 'USER_PASSWORD=password' \
  -e 'USER_PASSWORD_FILE=/path/to/file' \
  -e 'USER_NAME=linuxserver.io' \
  -e 'LOG_STDOUT=' \
  -v /srv/lsio/openssh-server/config:/config \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  linuxserver/openssh-server:latest

Save this file as compose.yaml and run docker compose up -d
Use this only as a guide.

services:
  openssh-server:
    image: linuxserver/openssh-server:latest
    ports:
      - 2222:2222/tcp
    volumes:
      - /srv/lsio/openssh-server/config:/config
    environment:
      PUID: '1000'
      PGID: '1000'
      TZ: Etc/UTC
      PUBLIC_KEY: yourpublickey
      PUBLIC_KEY_FILE: /path/to/file
      PUBLIC_KEY_DIR: /path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeys
      PUBLIC_KEY_URL: https://github.com/username.keys
      SUDO_ACCESS: 'false'
      PASSWORD_ACCESS: 'false'
      USER_PASSWORD: password
      USER_PASSWORD_FILE: /path/to/file
      USER_NAME: linuxserver.io
      LOG_STDOUT: ''
    restart: unless-stopped

Save this file as openssh-server-stack.yml, then from a manager node, run docker stack deploy -c openssh-server-stack.yml openssh-server

version: '3.8'
services:
  openssh-server:
    image: linuxserver/openssh-server:latest
    ports:
      - 2222:2222/tcp
    volumes:
      - /srv/lsio/openssh-server/config:/config
    environment:
      PUID: '1000'
      PGID: '1000'
      TZ: Etc/UTC
      PUBLIC_KEY: yourpublickey
      PUBLIC_KEY_FILE: /path/to/file
      PUBLIC_KEY_DIR: /path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeys
      PUBLIC_KEY_URL: https://github.com/username.keys
      SUDO_ACCESS: 'false'
      PASSWORD_ACCESS: 'false'
      USER_PASSWORD: password
      USER_PASSWORD_FILE: /path/to/file
      USER_NAME: linuxserver.io
      LOG_STDOUT: ''
    deploy:
      restart_policy:
        condition: any

Save each file below into a folder, then run kubectl apply -f .
Written for k3s, but works on any cluster: bind mounts use hostPath, named volumes get a persistent volume claim, and ports are exposed via a LoadBalancer service.

`openssh-server-deployment.yaml`

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: openssh-server
  labels:
    app: openssh-server
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: openssh-server
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: openssh-server
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: openssh-server
          image: linuxserver/openssh-server:latest
          env:
            - name: PUID
              value: '1000'
            - name: PGID
              value: '1000'
            - name: TZ
              value: Etc/UTC
            - name: PUBLIC_KEY
              value: yourpublickey
            - name: PUBLIC_KEY_FILE
              value: /path/to/file
            - name: PUBLIC_KEY_DIR
              value: /path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeys
            - name: PUBLIC_KEY_URL
              value: https://github.com/username.keys
            - name: SUDO_ACCESS
              value: 'false'
            - name: PASSWORD_ACCESS
              value: 'false'
            - name: USER_PASSWORD
              value: password
            - name: USER_PASSWORD_FILE
              value: /path/to/file
            - name: USER_NAME
              value: linuxserver.io
            - name: LOG_STDOUT
              value: ''
          ports:
            - containerPort: 2222
              protocol: TCP
          volumeMounts:
            - name: openssh-server-data-0
              mountPath: /config
      volumes:
        - name: openssh-server-data-0
          hostPath:
            path: /srv/lsio/openssh-server/config

`openssh-server-service.yaml`

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: openssh-server
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  selector:
    app: openssh-server
  ports:
    - name: 2222-tcp
      port: 2222
      targetPort: 2222
      protocol: TCP

Save this file as ~/.config/containers/systemd/openssh-server.container

[Unit]
Description=Openssh-server

[Container]
Image=linuxserver/openssh-server:latest
ContainerName=openssh-server
PublishPort=2222:2222/tcp
Environment=PUID=1000
Environment=PGID=1000
Environment=TZ=Etc/UTC
Environment=PUBLIC_KEY=yourpublickey
Environment=PUBLIC_KEY_FILE=/path/to/file
Environment=PUBLIC_KEY_DIR=/path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeys
Environment=PUBLIC_KEY_URL=https://github.com/username.keys
Environment=SUDO_ACCESS=false
Environment=PASSWORD_ACCESS=false
Environment=USER_PASSWORD=password
Environment=USER_PASSWORD_FILE=/path/to/file
Environment=USER_NAME=linuxserver.io
Environment=LOG_STDOUT=
Volume=/srv/lsio/openssh-server/config:/config

[Service]
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Then reload systemd and start the service:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user start openssh-server

For a system-wide service, use /etc/containers/systemd/ and drop --user.

For more installation options, see the Documentation in our GitHub repo

The LinuxServer.io team brings you another container release featuring:

regular and timely application updates
easy user mappings (PGID, PUID)
custom base image with s6 overlay
weekly base OS updates with common layers across the entire LinuxServer.io ecosystem to minimise space usage, down time and bandwidth
regular security updates

Find us at:

Blog - all the things you can do with our containers including How-To guides, opinions and much more!
Discord - realtime support / chat with the community and the team.
Discourse - post on our community forum.
GitHub - view the source for all of our repositories.
Open Collective - please consider helping us by either donating or contributing to our budget

linuxserver/openssh-server

Supported Architectures

We utilise the docker manifest for multi-platform awareness. More information is available from docker here and our announcement here.
Simply pulling lscr.io/linuxserver/openssh-server:latest should retrieve the correct image for your arch, but you can also pull specific arch images via tags.
The architectures supported by this image are:
| Architecture | Available | Tag | | :----: | :----: | ---- | | x86-64 | ✅ | amd64-\ | | arm64 | ✅ | arm64v8-\ |

Application Setup

If PUBLIC_KEY or PUBLIC_KEY_FILE, or PUBLIC_KEY_DIR variables are set, the specified keys will automatically be added to authorized_keys. If not, the keys can manually be added to /config/.ssh/authorized_keys and the container should be restarted. Removing PUBLIC_KEY or PUBLIC_KEY_FILE variables from docker run environment variables will not remove the keys from authorized_keys. PUBLIC_KEY_FILE and PUBLIC_KEY_DIR can be used with docker secrets.
We provide the ability to set and allow password based access via the PASSWORD_ACCESS and USER_PASSWORD variables, though we as an organization discourage using password auth for public facing ssh endpoints.
Connect to server via ssh -i /path/to/private/key -p PORT USER_NAME@SERVERIP
Setting SUDO_ACCESS to true by itself will allow passwordless sudo. USER_PASSWORD and USER_PASSWORD_FILE allow setting an optional sudo password.
The users only have access to the folders mapped and the processes running inside this container. Add any volume mappings you like for the users to have access to. To install packages or services for users to access, use the LinuxServer container customization methods described in this blog article.
Sample use case is when a server admin would like to have automated incoming backups from a remote server to the local server, but they might not want all the other admins of the remote server to have full access to the local server. This container can be set up with a mounted folder for incoming backups, and rsync installed via LinuxServer container customization described above, so that the incoming backups can proceed, but remote server and its admins' access would be limited to the backup folder.
It is also possible to run multiple copies of this container with different ports mapped, different folders mounted and access to different private keys for compartmentalized access.

TIPS

You can volume map your own text file to /etc/motd to override the message displayed upon connection. You can optionally set the docker argument hostname

Key Generation

This container has a helper script to generate an ssh private/public key. In order to generate a key please run:

docker run --rm -it --entrypoint /keygen.sh linuxserver/openssh-server

Then simply follow the prompts. The keys generated by this script are only displayed on your console output, so make sure to save them somewhere after generation.

Usage

To help you get started creating a container from this image you can either use docker-compose or the docker cli.
>!NOTE >Unless a parameter is flagged as 'optional', it is mandatory and a value must be provided.

docker-compose (recommended, click here for more info)

---
services:
  openssh-server:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/openssh-server:latest
    container_name: openssh-server
    hostname: openssh-server #optional
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
      - PUBLIC_KEY=yourpublickey #optional
      - PUBLIC_KEY_FILE=/path/to/file #optional
      - PUBLIC_KEY_DIR=/path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeys #optional
      - PUBLIC_KEY_URL=https://github.com/username.keys #optional
      - SUDO_ACCESS=false #optional
      - PASSWORD_ACCESS=false #optional
      - USER_PASSWORD=password #optional
      - USER_PASSWORD_FILE=/path/to/file #optional
      - USER_NAME=linuxserver.io #optional
      - LOG_STDOUT= #optional
    volumes:
      - /path/to/openssh-server/config:/config
    ports:
      - 2222:2222
    restart: unless-stopped

docker cli (click here for more info)

docker run -d \
  --name=openssh-server \
  --hostname=openssh-server `#optional` \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=Etc/UTC \
  -e PUBLIC_KEY=yourpublickey `#optional` \
  -e PUBLIC_KEY_FILE=/path/to/file `#optional` \
  -e PUBLIC_KEY_DIR=/path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeys `#optional` \
  -e PUBLIC_KEY_URL=https://github.com/username.keys `#optional` \
  -e SUDO_ACCESS=false `#optional` \
  -e PASSWORD_ACCESS=false `#optional` \
  -e USER_PASSWORD=password `#optional` \
  -e USER_PASSWORD_FILE=/path/to/file `#optional` \
  -e USER_NAME=linuxserver.io `#optional` \
  -e LOG_STDOUT= `#optional` \
  -p 2222:2222 \
  -v /path/to/openssh-server/config:/config \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  lscr.io/linuxserver/openssh-server:latest

Parameters

Containers are configured using parameters passed at runtime (such as those above). These parameters are separated by a colon and indicate <external>:<internal> respectively. For example, -p 8080:80 would expose port 80 from inside the container to be accessible from the host's IP on port 8080 outside the container.
| Parameter | Function | | :----: | --- | | --hostname= | Optionally the hostname can be defined. | | -p 2222:2222 | ssh port | | -e PUID=1000 | for UserID - see below for explanation | | -e PGID=1000 | for GroupID - see below for explanation | | -e TZ=Etc/UTC | specify a timezone to use, see this list. | | -e PUBLIC_KEY=yourpublickey | Optional ssh public key, which will automatically be added to authorizedkeys. | | -e PUBLIC_KEY_FILE=/path/to/file | Optionally specify a file containing the public key (works with docker secrets). | | -e PUBLIC_KEY_DIR=/path/to/directory/containing/_only_/pubkeys | Optionally specify a directory containing the public keys (works with docker secrets). | | -e PUBLIC_KEY_URL=https://github.com/username.keys | Optionally specify a URL containing the public key. | | -e SUDO_ACCESS=false | Set to true to allow linuxserver.io, the ssh user, sudo access. Without USER_PASSWORD set, this will allow passwordless sudo access. | | -e PASSWORD_ACCESS=false | Set to true to allow user/password ssh access. You will want to set USER_PASSWORD or USER_PASSWORD_FILE as well. | | -e USER_PASSWORD=password | Optionally set a sudo password for linuxserver.io, the ssh user. If this or USER_PASSWORD_FILE are not set but SUDO_ACCESS is set to true, the user will have passwordless sudo access. | | -e USER_PASSWORD_FILE=/path/to/file | Optionally specify a file that contains the password. This setting supersedes the USER_PASSWORD option (works with docker secrets). | | -e USER_NAME=linuxserver.io | Optionally specify a user name (Default:linuxserver.io) | | -e LOG_STDOUT= | Set to true to log to stdout instead of file. | | -v /config | Contains all relevant configuration files. |
Environment variables from files (Docker secrets)
You can set any environment variable from a file by using a special prepend FILE__.
As an example:
-e FILE__MYVAR=/run/secrets/mysecretvariable

Will set the environment variable MYVAR based on the contents of the /run/secrets/mysecretvariable file.
Umask for running applications
For all of our images we provide the ability to override the default umask settings for services started within the containers using the optional -e UMASK=022 setting. Keep in mind umask is not chmod it subtracts from permissions based on it's value it does not add. Please read up here before asking for support.

User / Group Identifiers

When using volumes (-v flags), permissions issues can arise between the host OS and the container, we avoid this issue by allowing you to specify the user PUID and group PGID.
Ensure any volume directories on the host are owned by the same user you specify and any permissions issues will vanish like magic.
In this instance PUID=1000 and PGID=1000, to find yours use id your_user as below:

id your_user

Example output:

uid=1000(your_user) gid=1000(your_user) groups=1000(your_user)

Docker Mods

We publish various Docker Mods to enable additional functionality within the containers. The list of Mods available for this image (if any) as well as universal mods that can be applied to any one of our images can be accessed via the dynamic badges above.

Support Info

Shell access whilst the container is running:

```bash
docker exec -it openssh-server /bin/bash
```

To monitor the logs of the container in realtime:

```bash
docker logs -f openssh-server
```

Container version number:

```bash
docker inspect -f '{{ index .Config.Labels "build_version" }}' openssh-server
```

Image version number:

```bash
docker inspect -f '{{ index .Config.Labels "build_version" }}' lscr.io/linuxserver/openssh-server:latest
```

Updating Info

Most of our images are static, versioned, and require an image update and container recreation to update the app inside. With some exceptions (noted in the relevant readme.md), we do not recommend or support updating apps inside the container. Please consult the Application Setup section above to see if it is recommended for the image.
Below are the instructions for updating containers:

Via Docker Compose

Update images:

* All images:

    ```bash
    docker-compose pull
    ```

* Single image:

    ```bash
    docker-compose pull openssh-server
    ```

Update containers:

* All containers:

    ```bash
    docker-compose up -d
    ```

* Single container:

    ```bash
    docker-compose up -d openssh-server
    ```

You can also remove the old dangling images:

```bash
docker image prune
```

Via Docker Run

Update the image:

```bash
docker pull lscr.io/linuxserver/openssh-server:latest
```

Stop the running container:

```bash
docker stop openssh-server
```

Delete the container:

```bash
docker rm openssh-server
```

Recreate a new container with the same docker run parameters as instructed above (if mapped correctly to a host folder, your /config folder and settings will be preserved)
You can also remove the old dangling images:

```bash
docker image prune
```

Image Update Notifications - Diun (Docker Image Update Notifier)

>!TIP >We recommend Diun for update notifications. Other tools that automatically update containers unattended are not recommended or supported.

Building locally

If you want to make local modifications to these images for development purposes or just to customize the logic:

git clone https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-openssh-server.git
cd docker-openssh-server
docker build \
  --no-cache \
  --pull \
  -t lscr.io/linuxserver/openssh-server:latest .

The ARM variants can be built on x8664 hardware and vice versa using lscr.io/linuxserver/qemu-static
docker run --rm --privileged lscr.io/linuxserver/qemu-static --reset

Once registered you can define the dockerfile to use with -f Dockerfile.aarch64.
Versions
05.07.26: - Rebase to Alpine 3.24.
28.12.25: - Rebase to Alpine 3.23.
05.07.25: - Rebase to Alpine 3.22.
10.02.25: - Add support for sshdconfig.d
12.01.25: - Rebase to Alpine 3.21.
24.11.24: - Move sshdconfig to /config/sshd/sshdconfig.
31.05.24: - Rebase to Alpine 3.20.
04.05.24: - Display the SSH host public keys every time the container starts.
09.03.24: - Rebase to Alpine 3.19.
12.06.23: - Rebase to Alpine 3.18, deprecate armhf. As announced here
05.03.23: - Rebase to Alpine 3.17.
18.10.22: - Fix wrong behavior of password/passwordless sudo
11.10.22: - Rebase to Alpine 3.16, migrate to s6v3.
15.09.22: - add netcat-openbsd with support for proxies.
18.07.22: - Fix service perms to comply with upgrade to s6 v3.
16.04.22: - Rebase to alpine 3.15.
16.11.21: - Add PUBLICKEYURL option
28.06.21: - Rebasing to alpine 3.14. Add support for PAM.
10.02.21: - Rebasing to alpine 3.13. Add openssh-client for scp.
21.10.20: - Implement s6-log for openssh, which adds local timestamps to logs and can be used with a log parser like fail2ban.
20.10.20: - Set umask for sftp.
01.06.20: - Rebasing to alpine 3.12.
18.01.20: - Add key generation script.
13.01.20: - Add openssh-sftp-server.
19.12.19: - Rebasing to alpine 3.11.
17.10.19: - Initial Release.

Serve Openssh-server on your own domain behind Caddy, Nginx or Traefik. Fill in your domain and copy the result. It's a starting point, some apps need their own base URL or extra headers set too.

Proxy Domain App port Upstream

Proxying openssh-server.example.com to http://Openssh-server:2222

Add this to your Caddyfile

openssh-server.example.com {
	reverse_proxy http://Openssh-server:2222
}

Check the logs first

Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.

In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run docker logs Openssh-server
Exit codes help too: 137 means killed, usually out of memory. 126 or 127 means the command inside the image is broken.

Port already in use

If deployment fails with "Bind for 0.0.0.0:2222 failed: port is already allocated", something else on your server is using that port.

Find what's using it: sudo ss -tlnp | grep :2222
Stop the other service, or pick a different host port. In 2222:2222 only the left number is yours to change, the right one belongs to the app.

Running but the page won't load

The container is up but nothing appears in your browser.

Use your server's real IP: http://your-server-ip:2222. The 0.0.0.0 link Portainer shows isn't a real address.
Give it a minute after first deploy, Openssh-server can take a while to initialise.
Make sure your firewall allows the port, e.g. sudo ufw allow 2222

Permission denied on volumes

If the logs show "permission denied", the app can't write to its data folder on the host.

Fix the ownership: sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /srv/lsio/openssh-server/config
Or set the PUID and PGID variables (defaults 1000:1000) to match your own user, found with id $USER

Image won't pull

Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull linuxserver/openssh-server:latest

"manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists. This template uses latest, so try pinning a specific version instead.
"toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with docker login to raise it.
"no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with docker system prune

"exec format error"

This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.

This image supports: amd64, arm64
Check yours with uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.

Container keeps restarting

The unless-stopped restart policy relaunches the app after every crash, so the real error can scroll past.

Check the logs right after a restart, the last few lines before it died are the useful ones.
Get the exit code with docker inspect Openssh-server --format '{{.State.ExitCode}}'
Still stuck? Redeploy once with the restart policy set to no so the failure stays visible.

Required settings are blank

LOG_STDOUT has no default value, and Openssh-server may crash or misbehave if left empty.

Fill it in on the deploy screen before hitting deploy.

Raise an issue

Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.

Bug within the app: Open an issue within Openssh-server's repo
Template not working: Open an issue on technorabilia/portainer-templates
This website not working: Open an issue on lissy93/portainer-templates

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