sshd.exe missing in git clone repo download

[lolson27]

Prerequisites

• Write a descriptive title.
• Make sure you are able to repro it on the latest version.
• Search the existing issues.

Steps to Reproduce
🔄 Steps to Reproduce
✅ System Information

• OS: Windows 10.0.26100.4061
• Issue: sshd.exe missing from cloned repository, preventing OpenSSH installation.
  ✅ Reproduction Steps
  1️⃣ Open PowerShell as Administrator
  2️⃣ Clone the repository:
  git clone https://github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH.git

3️⃣ Navigate to the cloned folder:
cd C:\Windows\System32\Win32-OpenSSH

4️⃣ Copy files to the expected system directory:
Copy-Item -Recurse -Force "C:\Windows\System32\Win32-OpenSSH" "C:\Program Files\OpenSSH"

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5️⃣ Attempt to install OpenSSH using PowerShell:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install-sshd.ps1

Expected Behavior
✅ Expected Behavior:
sshd.exe should be present in C:\Program Files\OpenSSH after executing the installation script in PowerShell, allowing installation to proceed.

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Actual Behavior
❌ Actual Behavior:
Only documentation files (e.g., README.md) exist—sshd.exe is missing, preventing installation.

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Error Details
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32\Win32-OpenSSH> powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install-sshd.ps1
The argument 'install-sshd.ps1' to the -File parameter does not exist. Provide the path to an existing '.ps1' file as an argument to the -File parameter.

The : The term 'The' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or
operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that
the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1

• The argument 'install-sshd.ps1' to the -File parameter does not exist ...

•   + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (The:String) [], CommandNotFoundException  
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException  
  
  

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Environment Data
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32\Win32-OpenSSH> $PSVersionTable

Name Value

---

PSVersion 5.1.26100.4061
PSEdition Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
BuildVersion 10.0.26100.4061
CLRVersion 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion 2.3
SerializationVersion 1.1.0.1

Version
PSVersion 5.1.26100.4061
PSEdition Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
BuildVersion 10.0.26100.4061
CLRVersion 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion 2.3
SerializationVersion 1.1.0.1

[lolson27]

(... sorry for all the edits.. its been a looooooong night lol) hope it helps :-)

[mgkuhn]

git clone https://github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH.git

From the README.md (the only interesting file in the repo you cloned):

As of Nov 1st 2016, active development on "Windows for OpenSSH" is being done in https://github.com/PowerShell/openssh-portable.

This repo (https://github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH) is being maintained to keep track of releases and issues and because it contains the wiki which has instructions for building.

[mgkuhn]

A Git repo such as

git clone https://github.com/PowerShell/openssh-portable.git

typically contains the source code, which you then need to compile to obtain the executable binaries.

If you are looking for precompiled binaries, go to the Releases page, where the maintainers have uploaded ZIP and MSI packages of compiled binaries.

Also see the install instructions on the wiki.

[tgauth]

I'll add that the only components in the C:\Windows\System32\ folder should be shipped with Windows.

GitHub releases of OpenSSH should be installed to the $env:ProgramFiles directory.

To install sshd to C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\ specifically, enable the OpenSSH Server via Optional Features. For instructions on how to do that, please see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/tutorials/ssh#access-windows-ssh-client-and-ssh-server