# Question using SSH in OpenZiti **URL:** \ **Category:** General Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/question-using-ssh-in-openziti/5893 "2026-06-12T17:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 2
**Author:** ![emoscardini](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/openziti.discourse.group/emoscardini/32/753_2.png) [@emoscardini](https://openziti.discourse.group/u/emoscardini)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/question-using-ssh-in-openziti/5893/2 "2026-06-12T20:11:23Z")
Hi @MacFee When utilizing zssh or tunneling, OpenZiti is only handling the network connectivity portion of SSH. The SSH protocol itself (user authentication, authorized\_keys, certificates, etc.) remains unchanged. In both cases, SSH keys are not managed by OpenZiti. Users still authenticate to the target system using whatever SSH authentication method the server is configured for (public/private keys, SSH certificates, passwords, LDAP, etc.). So from the SSH server's perspective, it is simply receiving a normal SSH connection that happens to be transported over OpenZiti instead of a traditional TCP/IP network. If you'd like OpenZiti to participate in the SSH authentication and identity management process as well, take a look at this discussion: > [@Zssh - SSH Identity Management Through OpenZiti](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/zssh-ssh-identity-management-through-openziti/5842/2): > > Hi @dmuensterer You've got really good timing! This is exactly the problem we've been working on. We just open-sourced ziti-ssh ([https://github.com/netfoundry/ziti-ssh](https://github.com/netfoundry/ziti-ssh)), which implements Approach A & a bit more. How it works Four binaries: ziti-ssh-ca — a CA service that runs as a ziti service (not a new controller endpoint). Authorized identities connect to it, send their SSH public key, and get back a short-lived signed certificate. It uses the controller's own intermediate CA private … --- _[View the full topic](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/question-using-ssh-in-openziti/5893)._