How to Enable SSH in CentOS 7

Set up and secure SSH on your device with our complete guide

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: December 20, 2024

This wikiHow will teach you how to enable SSH in CentOS 7. Since SSH comes pre-installed along with CentOS, you'll just need to run a command to enable it. Once you've enabled SSH, make sure port 22 is open on your router to allow incoming connections.

How to Setup SSH for CentOS7

Open up the terminal.
Enter: sudo yum -y install openssh-server openssh-clients into the command line.
Type in: sudo systemctl start sshd
Then, enter: sudo systemctl status sshd .
Check for an "active" status on your computer.

Steps

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1
Enter the following code into your command-line utility: sudo yum -y install openssh-server openssh-clients.^{[1]
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- This code installs the appropriate SSH server and client type.
2
Enter the following code: sudo systemctl start sshd.
- With this active, the SSH service will start and will listen continuously for actions from clients, like connection requests.
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3
Enter the following code: sudo systemctl status sshd .
- You should see an "active" status. If you don't, you may need to restart your system and try again.
- To stop SSH, enter systemctl stop sshd and you'll see an "inactive" tag.
- If you want SSH to automatically start whenever you reboot the system, enter: sudo systemctl enable sshd. Change "enable" to "disable" if you want to cancel the automatic setting.