ssh.md

SSH

It is highly recommended to setup the SSH service if you plan on doing any serious modding on the deck

Setting up SSHD

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(this will walk through setting a user password and enabling the SSH Daemon Service)

1. push the STEAM button on the deck
2. go to Power
3. Select Switch to Desktop
4. From Desktop Mode, Click the Application Launcher (Steam Deck Icon, bottom left)
5. Go to All Applications > Konsole
6. run the following command

passwd

7. Enter a secure password (You will be prompted for this anytime you connect to the Deck remotely via SSH)
8. run the following command

sudo systemctl enable sshd

9. now run the following command to verify that SSHD is enabled

sudo systemctl status sshd

10. In the output look for enabled; on the Loaded: line
11. Look for running on the Active: line

12. If all steps were followed SSH should be enabled, if not ASK AN ADULT

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Setup Private RSA Keypair and disable password authentication

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This is the most secure way to authenticate This assumes you're connecting from your Windows 10+ gaming rig with at least PowerShell 5.1 installed

Prerequisites: Windows (Client)

• PowerShell 5.1 or 7.x guide
• OpenSSH (optional feature) guide

Create and Install the Keypair (Client: Windows)

from a powershell prompt

1. Run the following command

ssh-keygen -t rsa -f $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa

Example: Generating a Test Key (by default your key will be named id_rsa)

2. When prompted to enter a file location leave it blank for purposes of the guide

generated ssh keys will save to $HOME\.ssh by default typically: c:\users\<userprofile>\.ssh

3. When prompted enter a secure passphrase

Don't recommend leaving this blank, once done you will not need to type a password when you connect via SSH
If you plan on using SSHFS to map drives to your Deck, leave the passphrase blank, SSHFS doesn't support PubKey passphrases

4. Run the following commands to make sure the ssh-agent service is running

Set-Service ssh-agent -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service ssh-agent -PassThru | Get-Service

5. The final output should look like this (otherwise ask an adult)

6. Run the following command, you'll need the exact path of the key you generated in step 2

ssh-add $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa

7. When prompted enter your passphrase for the last time, The key is now installed

Example: Test Key added to ssh-agent

8. Run the following command to copy your public key to the steam deck

DO NOT COPY $HOME\.ssh\id_rsa this is your Private Key and remains on your windows machine.

scp $HOME\.ssh\id_rsa.pub deck@steamdeck:~/.ssh

Configure Public Key Auth (Server: steamdeck)

via ssh or Konsole

Cliffs notes for Penguins

• confirm the pub key is present cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
• generate the authorized keys file cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
• edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and set the values by either uncommenting or appending
• PubkeyAuthentication yes
• PasswordAuthentication no
• restart sshd sudo systemctl restart sshd.service
• test ssh login from windows ssh deck@steamdeck

1. confirm your public key was copied to the steamdeck

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

WARNING: Don't share actual SSH keys you use for authentication on the internet

2. assuming the key is present run the following to create the authorized_keys file

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

3. run the following commands to modify the sshd_config to Enable Public Key Auth, and Disable Password Auth

testvar=`grep ^PubkeyAuthentication /etc/ssh/sshd_config`
[ -z "$testvar" ] && echo 'PubkeyAuthentication yes' | sudo tee -a /etc/ssh/sshd_config || echo "already exists: $testvar"

testvar=`grep ^PasswordAuthentication /etc/ssh/sshd_config`
[ -z "$testvar" ] && echo 'PasswordAuthentication no' | sudo tee -a /etc/ssh/sshd_config || echo "already exists: $testvar"

sudo systemctl restart sshd.service

Additionally: This file can also be edited using nano or vim (if you're a masochist)

Test Login (Client: Windows)

1. From your Windows PC login to the deck via SSH

ssh deck@steamdeck

2. If all instructions were followed, you should NOT be prompted for a password

IF IT STILL DOESN'T WORK ASK AN ADULT

Map Network Drives in Windows to your Deck (SSHFS-Win, WinFsp)

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SSHFS-Win: enables Windows to connect via SFTP to an SSH Server WinFsp: Windows File System Proxy; allows support for custom filesystem on windows github: SSHFS-Win

Install SSHFS-Win and WinFsp

1. From a PowerShell prompt

winget install WinFsp.WinFsp; winget install SSHFS-Win.SSHFS-Win

This will install the required packages

NOTE: if you don't have winget installed, you can open the Microsoft Store and search for winget and install it, it may also be called App Installer Microsoft Store: App Installer

Map Network Drives

NOTE: SSHFS may require specific syntax depending on you connect to SSH sshfs by default will connect to your user home directory usually /home/deck sshfs.k will use your private key to connect sshfs.r will allow you connect from the root dir sshfs.k and sshfs.kr will be needed if you're using Pubkey auth

1. Map Drive to your Internal SSD Steam directory

net use Z: \\sshfs\deck@steamdeck\.local\share\Steam /persistent:yes /savecred

2. Map Drive to your MicroSD

NOTE: if you didn't let the deck auto-format your SD card, replace mmcblk0p1 with the name of the volume

net use Z: \\sshfs.r\deck@steamdeck\run\media\mmcblk0p1 /persistent:yes /savecred

These Drives should now be persistent and reconnect at login