Setting to use git-bash as default shell when connecting remotely via OpenSSH to Windows Server 2016

Question

The Powershell OpenSSH website has good instructions on how to install and use OpenSSH.

These include how to "Configuring the default ssh shell (optional)"

If I elect to use git-bash instead of powershell, what -Value do I put into the following other than "/c"

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\OpenSSH" -Name DefaultShellCommandOption -Value "/c" -PropertyType String -Force

I get a blank screen when I set the default shell to be git-bash.
I tried "-c" and "-l -i" but neither one worked and I am still getting a blank screen.

Solution 1

This should be all you need:

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\OpenSSH" -Name DefaultShell -Value "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" -PropertyType String -Force

Solution 2

If you need to use the cygwin provided bash, this worked for me:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\OpenSSH]
"DefaultShell"="C:\\cygwin64\\Cygwin.bat"

Comments

[bertieb]

Thanks for your answer! Can you explain it? :)

[user2819573]

From here where they are setting the default shell to powershell, answer above just substitutes git bash for powershell github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH/wiki/DefaultShell

[Ray Foss]

C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe also works for opening WSL bash on windows!

[Admin]

@RayFoss, C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe works only when you install a Linux distro on Windows. For me, it asked me to install a distro :)

[Admin]

@user2819573 Thanks for your answer, I was using the GUI version .exe file in "C:\Program Files\Git\git-bash.exe", as soon as I changed path to "C:\Program Files\Git\bin/bash.exe", it started working :)