--- title: SSH access for Linux and Windows containers description: You can open an SSH session to a Linux or a Windows container in Azure App Service. Custom Linux containers are supported with some modifications to your custom image. Custom Windows containers require no modifications to your custom image. keywords: azure app service, web app, linux, windows, oss author: msangapu-msft ms.assetid: 66f9988f-8ffa-414a-9137-3a9b15a5573c ms.topic: article ms.date: 01/28/2025 ms.author: msangapu ms.custom: devx-track-azurecli, linux-related-content zone_pivot_groups: app-service-containers-windows-linux --- # Open an SSH session to a container in Azure App Service ::: zone pivot="container-windows" [Secure Shell (SSH)](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell) can be used to execute administrative commands remotely to a container. App Service provides SSH support directly into an app hosted in a Windows custom container. Windows custom containers don't require any special settings for the [browser SSH session](#open-ssh-session-in-browser) to work. SSH sessions through Azure CLI are not supported. ![Linux App Service SSH](./media/configure-linux-open-ssh-session/app-service-linux-ssh.png) ::: zone-end ::: zone pivot="container-linux" [Secure Shell (SSH)](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell) can be used to execute administrative commands remotely to a container. App Service provides SSH support directly into an app hosted in a Linux container (built-in or custom). The built-in Linux containers already have the necessary configuration to enable SSH sessions. Linux custom containers require additional configurations to enable SSH sessions. See [Enable SSH](configure-custom-container.md?pivots=container-linux#enable-ssh). ![Linux App Service SSH](./media/configure-linux-open-ssh-session/app-service-linux-ssh.png) You can also connect to the container directly from your local development machine using SSH and SFTP. ::: zone-end ## Open SSH session in browser [!INCLUDE [Open SSH session in browser](../../includes/app-service-web-ssh-connect-no-h.md)] ::: zone pivot="container-linux" ## Open SSH session with Azure CLI Using TCP tunneling you can create a network connection between your development machine and Linux containers over an authenticated WebSocket connection. It enables you to open an SSH session with your container running in App Service from the client of your choice. To get started, you need to install [Azure CLI](/cli/azure/install-azure-cli). To see how it works without installing Azure CLI, open [Azure Cloud Shell](../cloud-shell/overview.md). Open a remote connection to your app using the [az webapp create-remote-connection](/cli/azure/webapp#az-webapp-create-remote-connection) command. Specify _\_, _\_ and _\_ for your app. ```azurecli-interactive az webapp create-remote-connection --subscription --resource-group -n & ``` > [!TIP] > `&` at the end of the command is just for convenience if you are using Cloud Shell. It runs the process in the background so that you can run the next command in the same shell. > [!NOTE] > If this command fails, make sure [remote debugging](https://medium.com/@auchenberg/introducing-remote-debugging-of-node-js-apps-on-azure-app-service-from-vs-code-in-public-preview-9b8d83a6e1f0) is *disabled* with the following command: > > ```azurecli-interactive > az webapp config set --resource-group -n --remote-debugging-enabled=false > ``` The command output gives you the information you need to open an SSH session. ```output Verifying if app is running.... App is running. Trying to establish tunnel connection... Opening tunnel on addr: 127.0.0.1 Opening tunnel on port: SSH is available { username: root, password: Docker! } Ctrl + C to close ``` Open an SSH session with your container with the client of your choice, using the local port provided in the output (``). For example, with the linux [ssh](https://ss64.com/bash/ssh.html) command, you can run a single command like `java -version`: ```bash ssh root@127.0.0.1 -m hmac-sha1 -p java -version ``` Or, to enter a full SSH session, just run: ```bash ssh root@127.0.0.1 -m hmac-sha1 -p ``` When being prompted, type `yes` to continue connecting. You are then prompted for the password. Use `Docker!`, which was shown to you earlier. 
Warning: Permanently added '[127.0.0.1]:21382' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.
root@127.0.0.1's password:
Once you're authenticated, you should see the session welcome screen. 
  _____
  /  _  \ __________ _________   ____
 /  /_\  \___   /  |  \_  __ \_/ __ \
/    |    \/    /|  |  /|  | \/\  ___/
\____|__  /_____ \____/ |__|    \___  >
        \/      \/                  \/
A P P   S E R V I C E   O N   L I N U X

0e690efa93e2:~#
You are now connected to your connector. Try running the [top](https://ss64.com/bash/top.html) command. You should be able to see your app's process in the process list. In the example output below, it's the one with `PID 263`. 
Mem: 1578756K used, 127032K free, 8744K shrd, 201592K buff, 341348K cached
CPU:   3% usr   3% sys   0% nic  92% idle   0% io   0% irq   0% sirq
Load average: 0.07 0.04 0.08 4/765 45738
  PID  PPID USER     STAT   VSZ %VSZ CPU %CPU COMMAND
    1     0 root     S     1528   0%   0   0% /sbin/init
  235     1 root     S     632m  38%   0   0% PM2 v2.10.3: God Daemon (/root/.pm2)
  263   235 root     S     630m  38%   0   0% node /home/site/wwwroot/app.js
  482   291 root     S     7368   0%   0   0% sshd: root@pts/0
45513   291 root     S     7356   0%   0   0% sshd: root@pts/1
  291     1 root     S     7324   0%   0   0% /usr/sbin/sshd
  490   482 root     S     1540   0%   0   0% -ash
45539 45513 root     S     1540   0%   0   0% -ash
45678 45539 root     R     1536   0%   0   0% top
45733     1 root     Z        0   0%   0   0% [init]
45734     1 root     Z        0   0%   0   0% [init]
45735     1 root     Z        0   0%   0   0% [init]
45736     1 root     Z        0   0%   0   0% [init]
45737     1 root     Z        0   0%   0   0% [init]
45738     1 root     Z        0   0%   0   0% [init]
::: zone-end ## Next steps You can post questions and concerns on the [Azure forum](/answers/tags/436/azure-app-service). For more information on Web App for Containers, see: * [Introducing remote debugging of Node.js apps on Azure App Service from VS Code](https://medium.com/@auchenberg/introducing-remote-debugging-of-node-js-apps-on-azure-app-service-from-vs-code-in-public-preview-9b8d83a6e1f0) * [Quickstart: Run a custom container on App Service](quickstart-custom-container.md?pivots=container-linux) * [Azure App Service Web App for Containers FAQ](faq-app-service-linux.yml)