configure-default-shell-powershell.md

description	Example showing how to use Microsoft.OpenSSH.SSHD/Windows to configure the default shell for SSH sessions.
ms.date	07/15/2025
ms.topic	reference
title	Configure default shell for SSH

Configure default shell for SSH

This example demonstrates how to use the Microsoft.OpenSSH.SSHD/Windows resource to set the default shell for SSH connections. The examples below configure PowerShell as the default shell for all SSH sessions.

Note

You should run this example in an elevated context (as Administrator) to ensure the SSH server configuration can be updated successfully.

Test the current default shell

The following snippet shows how you can use the resource with the dsc resource test command to check whether PowerShell is set as the default shell.

$instance = @{
  shell = 'C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe'
} | ConvertTo-Json

dsc resource test --resource Microsoft.OpenSSH.SSHD/Windows --input $instance

When PowerShell is not set as the default shell, DSC returns the following result:

desiredState:       
  shell: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
actualState: {}
inDesiredState: false
differingProperties:
- shell

Set PowerShell as the default shell

To set PowerShell as the default shell for SSH, use the dsc resource set command.

dsc resource set --resource Microsoft.OpenSSH.SSHD/Windows --input $instance

When the resource updates the default shell, DSC returns the following result:

beforeState: {}
afterState:
  shell: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
changedProperties:
- shell

You can test the instance again to confirm that PowerShell is now the default shell:

dsc resource test --resource Microsoft.OpenSSH.SSHD/Windows --input $instance

desiredState:
  shell: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
actualState:
  shell: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
inDesiredState: true
differingProperties: []

Cleanup

To restore your system to its original state, use the following command to delete the registry key:

$params = @{
    Path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\OpenSSH'
    Name = 'DefaultShell'
}
Remove-ItemProperty @params

To verify the configuration is removed, use the dsc resource get command:

dsc resource get --resource Microsoft.OpenSSH.SSHD/Windows --input $instance

actualState: {}