OpenSSH on windows/HP SIM

[WL Unix Support]

We have a requirement for a ssh service on some Windows Servers. I am aware that the SIM Agent includes an implementation of OpenSSH via Cygwin. We would like to avoid the situation of having multiple ssh implementation and/or having problems with the SIM agent due to there being an existing ssh implementation. Therefore the questions are :-
1) Can the OpenSSH implementation included in the SIM agent be used as a general purpose ssh service.
2) Can the OpenSSH be used as a standalone service i.e. without having to install the whole SIM agent.
3) If there is an existing ssh implementation (OpenSSH or commercial) can the SIM agent use that.

BTW. Some of my terminology may be off as my background is UNIX/HP-UX but hopefully you can see what we are trying to achieve.

[Joseph Harlan]

The OpenSSH implementation in the SIM-packaged version that HP supplies actually uses a re-written cygwin base that addresses most, if not all, current security and stability concerns. As for avoiding using multiple implementations, I would say that whatever you choose to deploy to Windows is likely to differ slightly in implementation no matter the distro. The ones to stay clear of though in my experiences are those that follow the ssh.com-touted standard. That is the one camp of SSH I have found does not play well with others. They use a set of flags in their implementation we have found to be entirely incompatible with ServiceGuard on HP-UX for sure, and I am certain that is not the only interoperability issues that exist. In the end, I would say that if your Windows systems are HP-hardware based, then it couldn't hurt to stick with the same vendor for your SSH. If I am not mistaken, they will support it. Perhaps a site moderator could provide some clarification around that policy for you though. Hope this helps.