Is there some SSH server for android?

Question

Is there an ssh server for Android (such as openssh for Ubuntu) that will allow me to access my device console via PuTTY?

Answer 1

Yes, there are a couple of options for this, including:

• SSHDroid (does not require rooted phone)
• QuickSSHD (see this Google thread for some discussion)
• Dropbear (requires rooted phone, see this Droidforums thread for some discussion)
• SSHelper (does not require rooting; free software -- under GPL; it incorporates also code from other projects; might eventually appear in the F-Droid repository)
• some other free (= libre) software projects of an ssh server have been mentioned in the discussion of their potential inclusion into F-Droid

Some of these apps will require you to root your device. SSHDroid, QuickSSHD and SSHelper, at least, do not (there may be others as well). There are certainly multiple choices for you to investigate depending on your requirements/desired features/etc.

Answer 2

You can also use an SSH server without a frontend app -- starting it with a command or through a configuration file, as described in Howto: Connect to Device with SSH.

According to that page, CyanogenMod included an SSH server (dropbear) in some releases. ("Cyanogenmod 9.0 RC2 no longer includes Dropbear.") Or you could probably put it into your system yourself.

It seems that by default it is assumed that the server is run by root (i.e., you'd need root acces to your system), but it must be possible to set up it to work without root.

Answer 3

This answer is a bit late to the party, but you can also compile static openssh binaries (ssh sshd ssh-keygen etc) for android using the buildroot project. Or dropbear if you prefer.

https://buildroot.uclibc.org

https://buildroot.uclibc.org/downloads/manual/manual.html

I have done this on my linux box, for openssh and many other programs. This requires a rooted device.

My device was arm based - you would have to check if your device is supported by buildroot if it is not arm.