How to view SSH client configuration

Viewing your SSH client configuration allows you to see how your SSH connections are set up. The configuration files determine the behavior of your SSH client, including authentication methods, connection timeouts, and host-specific options. By accessing these files, you can directly see the settings that affect your SSH connections.

The SSH client configuration is stored in two main files. User-specific settings are located in the ~/.ssh/config file, while system-wide settings are found in /etc/ssh/ssh_config. Additionally, the ssh -G command can be used to view the effective configuration applied to specific hosts or globally across your system.

This guide explains how to view your SSH client configuration using these files and the ssh -G command.

1. Open the terminal on your Linux machine.
2. View the user-specific SSH configuration by opening the ~/.ssh/config file.

   cat ~/.ssh/config

3. View the system-wide SSH configuration by opening the /etc/ssh/ssh_config file.

   sudo cat /etc/ssh/ssh_config

4. Use the ssh -G command to display the effective configuration for a specific host.

   ssh -G hostname

5. Use the ssh -G command with a wildcard to view global SSH settings applied across all hosts.

   ssh -G *