🔐 Awesome SSH Mastery Cheat Sheet — Every Command, Tip, and Trick You’ll Ever Need!

ultimate-ssh-cheat-sheet.md

🔐 Ultimate SSH Mastery Cheat Sheet

A developer's one-stop shop for all things SSH — commands, configurations, flags, forwarding, tunneling, and more.

💡 Pro Tip: Bookmark this page or clone it locally. It’s that useful.

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🔧 Table of Contents

• 🛠️ Basic SSH Commands
• 📁 File Transfer (SCP & SFTP)
• 🔑 SSH Key Management
• ⚙️ SSH Config File
• 🌐 Port Forwarding
• 🕳️ Tunneling & X11 Forwarding
• 🚀 Advanced Usage
• 📡 Session Management
• 🐞 SSH Debugging
• 🧩 Proxying SSH Traffic
• 🔄 SSH Agent Forwarding
• 🧰 SSH Utilities

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🛠️ Basic SSH Commands

Description	Syntax	Example
Connect to server	ssh [user]@[host]	ssh user@192.168.1.10
Connect with port	ssh -p [port] [user]@[host]	ssh -p 2222 user@192.168.1.10
Run remote command	ssh [user]@[host] "[command]"	ssh user@host "uptime"
SSH with private key	ssh -i [keyfile] [user]@[host]	ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa user@host
Disable host checking ⚠️	ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no ...	ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no user@host

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📁 File Transfer (SCP & SFTP)

Description	Syntax	Example
Copy local → remote file	scp [file] [user]@[host]:[remote_path]	scp notes.txt user@192.168.1.10:/home/user/
Copy remote → local file	scp [user]@[host]:[remote_path] [local_path]	scp user@host:/tmp/logs.zip ./
Use port with SCP	scp -P [port] [file] [user]@[host]:[path]	scp -P 2222 file.txt user@host:/home/user/
Copy folder recursively	scp -r [folder] [user]@[host]:[path]	scp -r project/ user@host:/opt/
Start SFTP session	sftp [user]@[host]	sftp user@192.168.1.10

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🔑 SSH Key Management

Description	Syntax	Example
Generate SSH key pair	ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f [filename]	ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa
Add key to agent	ssh-add [keyfile]	ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
List keys in agent	ssh-add -l	ssh-add -l
Remove specific key	ssh-add -d [keyfile]	ssh-add -d ~/.ssh/id_rsa
Remove all keys from agent	ssh-add -D	ssh-add -D

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⚙️ SSH Config File

Description	Sample Config Snippet
SSH config file location	~/.ssh/config
Alias for server connection	Host myserver\n HostName 192.168.1.10\n User user
Use custom key for a host	IdentityFile ~/.ssh/custom_key
Reuse connection (multiplexing)	ControlMaster auto\n ControlPath ~/.ssh/sockets/%r@%h-%p

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🌐 Port Forwarding

Description	Syntax	Example
Local → Remote port forwarding	ssh -L [local]:[remote]:[port] [user]@[host]	ssh -L 8080:localhost:80 user@host
Remote → Local port forwarding	ssh -R [remote]:[local]:[port] [user]@[host]	ssh -R 9090:localhost:3000 user@host
Dynamic SOCKS proxy	ssh -D [local_port] [user]@[host]	ssh -D 1080 user@host

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🕳️ Tunneling & X11 Forwarding

Description	Syntax	Example
Enable X11 forwarding	ssh -X [user]@[host]	ssh -X user@host
Disable X11 forwarding	ssh -o ForwardX11=no [user]@[host]	ssh -o ForwardX11=no user@host

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🚀 Advanced Usage

Description	Syntax	Example
Run SSH in background	ssh -f [user]@[host] [command]	ssh -f user@host "sleep 60"
Use specific protocol version	ssh -2 [user]@[host]	ssh -2 user@host
Use specific cipher	ssh -c [cipher] [user]@[host]	ssh -c aes256-cbc user@host

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📡 Session Management

Description	Command	Notes
Detach from SSH session	Ctrl+Z	Suspends the session temporarily
Reattach to session	fg	Resume background SSH
Terminate session	exit	Ends SSH connection

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🐞 SSH Debugging

Description	Syntax	Example
Verbose output	ssh -v [user]@[host]	ssh -v user@host
More verbose	ssh -vv [user]@[host]	ssh -vv user@host
Most verbose	ssh -vvv [user]@[host]	ssh -vvv user@host

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🧩 Proxying SSH Traffic

Description	Syntax	Example
Proxy via command	ssh -o ProxyCommand="[cmd]" [user]@[host]	ssh -o ProxyCommand="nc -X connect -x proxyhost:8080 %h %p" user@host
Proxy config in ssh config file	ProxyCommand nc -X connect -x proxyhost:8080 %h %p	Used inside ~/.ssh/config

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🔄 SSH Agent Forwarding

Description	Syntax	Example
Enable agent forwarding	ssh -A [user]@[host]	ssh -A user@host
Disable agent forwarding	ssh -a [user]@[host]	ssh -a user@host

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🧰 SSH Utilities

Description	Syntax	Example
Copy SSH key to server	ssh-copy-id [user]@[host]	ssh-copy-id user@host
Scan SSH keys of host	ssh-keyscan [host]	ssh-keyscan github.com
Show SSH version	ssh -V	ssh -V

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🏷️ Tags

#SSH #DevOps #Linux #RemoteAccess #SysAdmin #CloudEngineering #Networking #SSHTips #CheatSheet #Security

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📡 Whether you're a DevOps Engineer, Cloud Architect, Linux Enthusiast, Ethical Hacker, or Remote Developer — this ultimate SSH cheat sheet has everything you’ll ever need to master secure shell operations from the ground up.

🔍 Covers: Basic SSH, Port Forwarding, SSH Config, Key Management, Tunnels, SFTP, Proxying, Debugging, Agent Forwarding, and more — in a clean tabular format with commands, syntax, and real-world examples.

⭐ Star it if you learned something.
🔁 Fork it if you want to customize.
🧲 Share it if you want to help others!

🔗 Author: @Sharique55 — Follow for more ✨ DevOps, Linux, Git, and Cloud gems!