Ansible Role win_openssh

Installs Win32-OpenSSH on a Windows host.

Note: This role has been tested on Win32-OpenSSH v7.7.2.0p1-Beta, newer versions should work but this is not guaranteed

With the defaults this role will;

• Install Win32-OpenSSH to C:\Program Files\OpenSSH based on the latest release available on GitHub
• Setup the sshd and ssh-agent services and set them to auto start
• Create a firewall rule that allows inbound traffic on port 22 for the domain and private network profiles
• Configures the sshd_config file to allow public key and password authentication

The following can also be configured as part of the role but require some optional variables to be set;

• Specify a specific version to download from GitHub or another URL that points to the zip
• Specify where to install the binaries
• Control whether to setup the SSH server services
• Control whether to set the SSH services to auto start
• Define the firewall profiles to allow inbound ssh traffic
• Specify the port and other select sshd_config values
• Add a public key(s) to the current user's profile

Requirements

• Windows Server 2008 R2+

Variables

Mandatory Variables

None, this role will run with the default options set.

Optional Variables

• opt_openssh_architecture: The Windows architecture, must be set to either 32 or 64 (default: 64).
• opt_openssh_firewall_profiles: The firewall profiles to allow inbound SSH traffic (default: domain,private).
• opt_openssh_install_path: The directory to install the OpenSSH binaries (default: C:\Program Files\OpenSSH).
• opt_openssh_pubkeys: Either a string or list of strings to add to the user's authorized_keys file, by default no keys will be added. If opt_openssh_shared_admin_key is True then these keys will have no effect on the authentication for any Admin users.
• opt_openssh_setup_service: Whether to install the sshd service components or just stick with the client executables (default: True).
• opt_openssh_skip_start: Will not start the sshd and ssh-agent service and also not set to auto start (default: False).
• opt_openssh_temp_path: The temporary directory to download the downloaded zip and extracted files (default: C:\Windows\TEMP).
• opt_openssh_url: Sets the download location of the OpenSSH zip, if omitted then this will be sourced from the GitHub repository.
• opt_openssh_version: Sets a specific version to download from GitHub, this is only valid when opt_openssh_url is not set (default: latest)i
• opt_openssh_zip_file: The path to an OpenSSH zip release file that will be used to install OpenSSH. This will be used instead of opt_openssh_url if defined and opt_openssh_zip_remote_src controls whether the path is local to the controller or local to the Windows host.
• opt_openssh_zip_remote_src: (default: False)

You can also customise the following sshd_config values:

• opt_openssh_port: Aligns to Port, the port the SSH service will listen on (default: 22).
• opt_openssh_pubkey_auth: Aligns to PubkeyAuthentication, whether the SSH service will allow authentication with SSH keys (default: True).
• opt_openssh_password_auth: Aligns to PasswordAuthentication, whether the SSH service will allow authentication with passwords (default: True).
• opt_openssh_shared_admin_key: Set to True to have Administrators used a shared authorization key at __PROGRAMDATA__/ssh/administrators_authorized_keys. Set to False to ensure %USER_PROFILE%\.ssh\authorized_keys is used for all users (default: False).

You can customise the shell options to control how the sshd service starts a new shell:

• opt_openssh_default_shell: Override the default shell set by the OpenSSH install. This should be the absolute path to an executable you want to run when starting an SSH session.
• opt_openssh_default_shell_command_option: Set the arguments used when invoking the shell, this should not be adjusted in normal circumstances.
• opt_openssh_default_shell_escape_args: Skip the automatic escaping arguments when invoking the shell.
• opt_openssh_powershell_subsystem: Set subsystem for powershell remoting, needs to be a 8.3 path like: C:\PROGRA~1\POWERS~1\7\pwsh.exe (default: undefined)

Output Variables

None

Role Dependencies

None

Example Playbook

- name: install Win32-OpenSSH with the defaults
  hosts: windows
  gather_facts: no
  roles:
  - jborean93.win_openssh

- name: install specific version of Win32-OpenSSH to custom folder
  hosts: windows
  gather_facts: no
  roles:
  - role: jborean93.win_openssh
    opt_openssh_install_path: C:\OpenSSH
    opt_openssh_version: v7.7.2.0p1-Beta

- name: only install client components of Win32-OpenSSH
  hosts: windows
  gather_facts: no
  roles:
  - role: jborean93.win_openssh
    opt_openssh_setup_service: False

Testing

To test this role, go to the tests folder and run vagrant up. This will spin up a Windows Server 2019 host to test the role against. If the host is already online, running vagrant provision will rerun the tests.

Backlog

None - feature requests are welcome