change-ssh-port.md

Change default SSH port

The best practice of the "best practices" 😅 is to change default SSH port. As the Internet full of automated scanners and bots — most vulnerable are widely used default applications and ports.

Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config file, — find and update value of the line staring with Port as a new value for port pick a number between 1024 and 65535:

# nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Find line starting with "Port":
Port 64537 # CHANGE TO PORT OF YOUR CHOICE 1024-65535

# Save file with: "ctrl + o" combination
# Close file with: "ctrl + x" combination

Restart SSH service:

service sshd restart

To connect again via SSH explicitly set port via -p flag:

ssh -p 64537 username@host

Further reading:

• Disable root login via SSH
• Use SSH keys to login
• Sample sshd_config