News

Microsoft Tacks OpenSSH Preview onto Windows 10 Test Build

• By Kurt Mackie
• 12/19/2017

Microsoft recently issued a Windows 10 test release that includes a preview of the open source Secure Shell (OpenSSH) tooling, according to reports.

A Serve The Home article from earlier this month includes a demo on how to install this OpenSSH preview, which is part of a recent Windows 10 "Windows Insider Program" test release. OpenSSH is typically used for establishing secure remote connections to Linux or Unix machines, but Microsoft has been working over the past couple of years on supporting OpenSSH in the Windows client and server operating systems, too.

Microsoft had announced in 2015 that it was accepted as an OpenSSH contributor to the OpenBSD Foundation, which steers the development of the OpenSSH protocol. Microsoft's aim in doing so is to support two-way remote management from Windows to Linux systems, and vice versa, along with supporting OpenSSH in PowerShell. In May of this year, Microsoft indicated that it was nearing completion for integrating OpenSSH in the Win32 version of Windows. Back then, Microsoft had indicated that it still had some testing work to do that would be completed in the next couple of months.

Microsoft regularly keeps Windows Insider Program participants apprised about coming Windows 10 features. However, the availability of an OpenSSH preview apparently wasn't mentioned.

Possibly, only some users got to see the OpenSSH preview in Windows 10. Last month, Microsoft announced it was starting a "controlled studies" approach with its Windows Insider Program releases where certain features might not arrive for all program participants.

"This means that a smaller percentage of you will initially get certain new features in builds and others may not get these new features for a while, as we compare the usage and satisfaction of these features versus people who don't," wrote Dona Sarkar, head of the Windows Insider Program, in an announcement. "Eventually everyone will get these features -- but it just could be awhile."

Microsoft had promised in late November that a preview of a Timeline feature would appear in the next Windows Insider release. Timeline permits users to find files, applications and Web sites that were accessed at an earlier date. Another coming feature, tentatively called "Sets," was promised. Sets is a service for Office 365 users that's designed to let users pick up from what they doing last when they closed a Windows session, according to a Microsoft video.