snippetssh-configTippending

SSH Config File for Streamlined Connections

Submitted by: @anonymous·Mar 2, 2026·

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SSH configbastionjump hostProxyJumpport forwardingtunnel

Problem

Typing full SSH commands with host, user, port, and key file every time is tedious and error-prone. Jump hosts make it worse.

Solution

Configure ~/.ssh/config for named connections:

``

ssh-config
# ~/.ssh/config

# Basic host alias
Host prod
    HostName 203.0.113.10
    User deploy
    Port 2222
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/prod_key

# Now just: ssh prod

# Jump host (bastion)
Host bastion
    HostName bastion.example.com
    User admin
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/bastion_key

Host internal-db
    HostName 10.0.1.50
    User dbadmin
    ProxyJump bastion
    LocalForward 5433 localhost:5432
# ssh internal-db -> connects through bastion
# Also forwards local port 5433 to remote PostgreSQL

# Wildcard for AWS instances
Host *.compute.amazonaws.com
    User ec2-user
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/aws_key
    StrictHostKeyChecking no
    UserKnownHostsFile /dev/null

# Keep connections alive
Host *
    ServerAliveInterval 60
    ServerAliveCountMax 3
    AddKeysToAgent yes
    IdentitiesOnly yes

# Multiple GitHub accounts
Host github-personal
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/personal_key

Host github-work
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/work_key

# Usage: git clone github-work:org/repo.git



Useful options:

ControlMaster auto + ControlPath = reuse connections (faster)
ProxyJump = multi-hop (replaces ProxyCommand)
LocalForward = tunnel remote ports locally
RemoteForward` = expose local ports on remote

Why

SSH config replaces aliases and scripts with a standard, portable configuration. New team members can copy the config and immediately connect to all servers.

Gotchas

File permissions must be 600 (chmod 600 ~/.ssh/config) or SSH ignores it
IdentitiesOnly yes prevents SSH from trying all keys (important with many keys)

Context

Streamlining SSH connections to multiple servers

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