SSH Android | Setup guide & best apps to use

Secure Shell or Secure Socket Shell (SSH) is an encrypted network protocol that allows you to access other computers over an insecure network (such as the internet).

Although primarily a tool for system administrators, SSH can be useful for private users who want to execute commands and move files on home media or games servers, set up a VPN server on a rented VPS space, or suchlike. It is particularly handy for accessing headless servers that have no screen or keyboard attached for inputting commands.

In this article, we will look at how to use your Android phone or tablet to SSH into a remote server. Luckily, there are several very good SSH client apps for Android, so we also look at some of the best of these. Besides this, we include a quick guide to turning your Android device into an SSH server host. 

Command-line access

Traditional SSH clients provide command-line (terminal) access to SSH servers (any computer actively running SSH server software). And this remains by far the most common way to use SSH.

On desktop computers, X11 forwarding allows you to run GUI applications remotely, provided X-forwarding is also configured on the target computer. The only real way to do this in Android is via the XServer XSDL app, which is rather buggy, but which does work. 

For this article, we will assume that readers are looking for a more traditional SSH client. If you want full GUI access to a remote computer, then apps such as AnyDesk and TeamViewer are much easier ways to achieve this than configuring XServer XSDL.

If you want to transfer and rename files using a GUI interface, though, SFTP is an improvement over the old and highly insecure FTP file transfer protocol. It basically works like FTP but secures the connection using SSH.

Best SSH apps for Android

Below we have listed the Android apps for SSH.

Setup using an Android SSH Client App

For this guide we are using the open source ConnectBot app to connect to the headless Raspberry Pi SSH server we used for our PiVPN and Pi-hole projects. Although we are using ConnectBot, setup for all Android SSH client apps is very similar.

1. Download ConnectBot from either the Play Store or via F-Droid, install, and run it. 

2. (Optional) Import a public SSH key. We secured our Pi server with just a username and password, since we only ever intend to access it over our local network. Servers that are accessible over the internet should be secured with a cryptographic key pair. 

   If this is the case for the SSH server you wish to connect to, then its administrator will share its public key with you. This can be transferred to your Android device storage via email, USB connection to a PC, USB OTG stick, or suchlike. 

   To import a public key for an SSH server, on the Hosts screen select the hamburger menu icon -> Manage Pubkeys.

   Hit the folder icon, navigate to where the imported [keyname].key file is located on your device, and select it. 

   Hit the back button to return to the Hosts page.

   ConnectBot also allows you to generate key pairs that you can share with the server, but that is beyond the scope of this tutorial.

3. Connect to an SSH host server.  Whether you just imported a public SSH key or don’t need to and have just opened the app, you should now be on the Hosts page.

   Click the big + symbol at the bottom right of your screen to set up a new connection.

4. Ensure Protocol is ssh (it is by default) and under username@hostname:port enter your username followed by the @ symbol and then the SSH host’s IP address or URL.

   SSL uses port 22 by default, so you don't actually need to fill this bit in if your server uses port 22. If it uses a different port number, then add :[port number] to the login address.

   If using a public key is required, touch "Use pubkey authentication” and select the key you imported in Step 2.

   You can change any other settings you wish, or you may be instructed to do so by your SSH server administrator. Touch the + button when you are done.

5. Back on the Hosts screen, select the newly created SSH host.

6. The first time (only) you connect, you will see a security warning. Select YES.

7. Enter your password when prompted, and your command-prompt should turn into that of your SSH host server.

   You are now connected!

Pros and Cons of using an SSH client app for Android

Setting up your Android device as an SSH host

The above tutorial shows you how to connect to a remote host on your Android device via SSH. It is also possible to set up your Android device as an SSH host server. 

The method outlined in the tutorial below is something of a "quick and dirty” approach that lacks frills. But it's easy to implement, and it works without requiring root access. 

1. Download, install, and run SSHelper. 

2. Enable file Writing. You will need to do this only once.

   As the instructions say, touch OK to visit the SSHelper App Info page -> Permissions -> Storage -> Allow.

   Touch the back arrow until you are back on the SSHelper Log screen, which should show that SSH server is already up and running. In the future, simply starting the app will launch the SSH server.

3. Select the Config tab. To connect to your Android device over SSH, you will need the IP address, Port number, and password of the server. Note that SSHelper accepts any username during login.

4. By default, the server password is admin. It is a very good idea to change it to something more secure. When you’ve done this, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit "Restart server with new values.”

   Your Android device is now an SSH server host that you can connect to in the usual way (for example, in Android using the instruction in the previous section).

We outline how to connect to an SSH server (like the one we have just created) from Windows, macOS, Linux, and iOS, in How to SSH into a Raspberry Pi. Above, we have connected to our Android SSHelper server from Windows using PuTTy.

The only thing to note is that you will be unable to login as root unless the host Android device has been rooted. 

Test if SSH is working 

When you successfully SSH into another computer, you will see a terminal command prompt that belongs to that computer.

In other words, exactly as it would look if you were physically sat at the host computer using a terminal emulator such as Terminal (Linux and macOS), Command Prompt/Windows PowerShell (Windows), or Terminal Emulator for Android.

We can easily see above that we have connected to our Raspberry Pi. More usefully, you will now be able to execute commands as if you were sat in front of the host computer. If you're not sure where to start, then entering help will almost invariably output a list of valid commands.

If using an SFTP app (such as Ghost Commander or Solid Explorer) then you will be able to see, rename, move and preview (etc.) files on the host computer using a GUI interface if you are successfully connected.