SSH MCP Server

ssh-mcp

SSH MCP server that provides secure shell access to local machines through a Model Context Protocol interface.

Overview

This server implements an SSH client using Paramiko and exposes SSH functionality through MCP tools, allowing AI assistants to execute commands on local machines securely.

Features

• Session Management: Create, manage, and close SSH sessions with unique session IDs
• Command Execution: Execute shell commands with proper input handling
• Sudo Support: Specialized tools for running privileged commands with password authentication
• Interactive Commands: Support for commands requiring user input (e.g., sudo prompts)
• Thread-Safe: Concurrent session management with proper locking

Tools

• ssh_start_session: Initialize SSH connection to localhost
• ssh_exec_command: Execute shell commands with optional input
• ssh_exec_sudo_command: Run sudo commands with automatic password handling
• ssh_close_session: Clean up SSH sessions

Quick Start

1. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

2. Start the server:

   ./start.sh
   

The server runs on http://0.0.0.0:7777 and provides an SSE (Server-Sent Events) endpoint for MCP communication.

Configuration

Default SSH credentials:

• Hostname: localhost
• Username: alex
• Password: your-pass

Note: Update these credentials in server.py for production use.

Claude-desktop config

If using Linux, your config folder is:

/home/username/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

To enable this u need to enable it in claude desktop: File / Config / Developer / Edit config

SSH Daemon:

Configure ssh daemon:

nano /etc/systemd/system/ssh-mcp.service

Paste (update ur username):

[Unit]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
Description=SSH MCP Server                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
After=network.target                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
[Service]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
User=alex                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
WorkingDirectory=/home/alex/projects/ssh-mcp
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c 'eval "$(/home/alex/anaconda3/bin/conda shell.bash hook)" && conda activate base && /home/alex/anaconda3/bin/uvicorn server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 7777'
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable ssh-mcp.service
sudo systemctl start ssh-mcp.service