How to connect to an SSH server on a different port

An SSH server that listens away from port 22 will not answer a normal ssh user@host connection. Supplying the alternate port sends the client to the actual sshd endpoint, which separates a reachable login service from a network failure before authentication starts.

The OpenSSH client accepts the port on the command line for one connection, or from a Port directive inside a matching Host block. A saved alias in ~/.ssh/config keeps the hostname, user, port, and optional key together so repeated commands do not depend on remembering -p each time.

The server must already listen on the alternate TCP port, and every firewall, security group, or NAT rule in the path must allow that port. A first connection to the same hostname on a new port can still show a host-key prompt because OpenSSH tracks non-default endpoints as [host]:port entries.

Related: How to change the SSH server port
Related: How to run SSH server on multiple ports

Steps to connect to an SSH server on a different port:

  1. Confirm that the server and network path are intended to use the alternate SSH port.

    The client-side command does not move the server listener. Configure sshd and any firewall rule first, then use this page to connect to that published endpoint.

  2. Connect with the alternate port on the command line. 
    $ ssh -p 2222 user@host.example.net whoami
user

    Omit whoami to open an interactive shell instead of running a one-command login test.

  3. Save the alternate port in a per-user SSH client alias when the same endpoint is used regularly. 
    Host host-alt-port
    HostName host.example.net
    User user
    Port 2222
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

    Omit IdentityFile when the default key or ssh-agent already supplies the right identity.
    Tool: SSH Config Snippet Generator

  4. Show the resolved client configuration for the alias. 
    $ ssh -G host-alt-port
host host-alt-port
user user
hostname host.example.net
port 2222
##### snipped #####
identityfile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

    ssh -G prints the final client settings after matching Host blocks and defaults are applied, without opening a network session.
    Related: How to show SSH client configuration

  5. Connect through the saved host alias. 
    $ ssh host-alt-port whoami
user

    The same alias can be reused with scp and sftp so those clients inherit the configured hostname, user, port, and key.