Enable SSH on Fedora Linux

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By default, Fedora doesn’t enable SSH access. You’ll need to install OpenSSH server, start the service, and configure your firewall to allow connections.

## Install OpenSSH Server

sudo dnf install openssh-server openssh-clients

The openssh-clients package provides the ssh command for connecting to other machines, while openssh-server allows incoming connections.

## Start and Enable the SSH Service

sudo systemctl start sshd
sudo systemctl enable sshd

The enable command makes SSH start automatically on boot. Verify it’s running:

sudo systemctl status sshd

You should see “active (running)” in the output.

## Configure the Firewall

Fedora uses firewalld by default. Open port 22 for SSH:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Verify the rule is active:

sudo firewall-cmd --list-services

You should see ssh in the list.

## Test Your SSH Connection

From another machine on the same network:

ssh username@fedora-host-ip

Find your Fedora machine’s IP address:

ip addr show | grep 'inet '

## SSH Configuration Hardening

For production use, edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config to improve security:

**Disable root login:**

PermitRootLogin no

**Disable password authentication (use keys only):**

PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes

**Change the default port (optional):**

Port 2222

If you change the port, update the firewall:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=2222/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --remove-service=ssh
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

**Limit access to specific users:**

AllowUsers alice bob

After any configuration change, restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

## Set Up SSH Key Authentication

Generate a key pair on your client machine:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your-email@example.com"

Copy the public key to your Fedora server:

ssh-copy-id username@fedora-host-ip

Or manually if ssh-copy-id isn’t available:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | ssh username@fedora-host-ip "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Test the connection — you should log in without a password prompt.

## SELinux Considerations

Fedora enforces SELinux by default. SSH generally works out of the box, but if you encounter issues:

Check SELinux status:

getenforce

If SSH can’t read authorized_keys:

sudo restorecon -Rv ~/.ssh

If you changed the SSH port, tell SELinux:

sudo semanage port -a -t ssh_port_t -p tcp 2222

## Troubleshooting

**Connection refused:**

sudo systemctl status sshd        # Is it running?
sudo firewall-cmd --list-services  # Is SSH allowed?

**Permission denied:**

Check file permissions:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

**Slow connection:**

DNS reverse lookup can cause delays. Add to sshd_config:

UseDNS no

**Check SSH logs:**

sudo journalctl -u sshd --since "1 hour ago"

## SSH Host Keys

When you first connect to a Fedora server, SSH verifies the host fingerprint:

The authenticity of host '192.168.1.100' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:xxxxx.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Type yes to accept. The fingerprint is saved in ~/.ssh/known_hosts.

If you reinstall Fedora or change the host keys, you’ll see a warning:

WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!

Remove the old key:

ssh-keygen -R 192.168.1.100

Then reconnect and accept the new fingerprint.

## Using SSH Config for Convenience

Instead of typing full connection strings every time, configure shortcuts in ~/.ssh/config:

Host fedora
    HostName 192.168.1.100
    User alice
    Port 2222
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    ForwardAgent yes

Now connect with just:

ssh fedora

You can also configure multiplexing to reuse connections:

Host *
    ControlMaster auto
    ControlPath ~/.ssh/sockets/%r@%h-%p
    ControlPersist 600

mkdir -p ~/.ssh/sockets

This keeps connections alive for 10 minutes after you disconnect, making subsequent connections instant.