> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://e2b.manicule.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
> For every page in one file, fetch https://e2b.manicule.dev/llms-full.txt (large).
> To search and read these docs as tools, connect the MCP server at https://e2b.manicule.dev/api/mcp.
> Every agent surface: https://e2b.manicule.dev/.well-known/llms-manifest.json

# SSH access (/docs/sandbox/ssh-access)

<!-- agent-signals: reading_time_min: 2 · est_tokens: 1144 · updated: 2026-07-30 -->
Related: [Auto-resume on request](/docs/sandbox/auto-resume.md), [Connect to running sandbox](/docs/sandbox/connect.md), [Environment variables](/docs/sandbox/environment-variables.md), [Filesystem-only snapshots](/docs/sandbox/filesystem-only-snapshots.md), [Sandbox forking](/docs/sandbox/fork.md), [Git integration](/docs/sandbox/git-integration.md)

> Connect to your sandbox via SSH using a WebSocket proxy

SSH access enables remote terminal sessions, SCP/SFTP file transfers, and integration with tools that expect SSH connectivity.

## Quickstart

<Steps>
  <Step title="Build the SSH template">
    Define a template with OpenSSH server and [websocat](https://github.com/vi/websocat):

    <CodeGroup>
```typescript title="JavaScript & TypeScript"
// template.ts
import { Template, waitForPort } from 'e2b'

export const template = Template()
  .fromUbuntuImage('25.04')
  .aptInstall(['openssh-server'])
  .runCmd([
    'curl -fsSL -o /usr/local/bin/websocat https://github.com/vi/websocat/releases/latest/download/websocat.x86_64-unknown-linux-musl',
    'chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/websocat',
  ], { user: 'root' })
  .setStartCmd('sudo websocat -b --exit-on-eof ws-l:0.0.0.0:8081 tcp:127.0.0.1:22', waitForPort(8081))
```

```python title="Python"
# template.py
from e2b import Template, wait_for_port

template = (
    Template()
    .from_ubuntu_image("25.04")
    .apt_install(["openssh-server"])
    .run_cmd([
        "curl -fsSL -o /usr/local/bin/websocat https://github.com/vi/websocat/releases/latest/download/websocat.x86_64-unknown-linux-musl",
        "chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/websocat",
    ], user="root")
    .set_start_cmd("sudo websocat -b --exit-on-eof ws-l:0.0.0.0:8081 tcp:127.0.0.1:22", wait_for_port(8081))
)
```
    </CodeGroup>

    Build the template:

    <CodeGroup>
```typescript title="JavaScript & TypeScript"
// build.ts
import { Template, defaultBuildLogger } from 'e2b'
import { template as sshTemplate } from './template'

await Template.build(sshTemplate, 'ssh-ready', {
  cpuCount: 2,
  memoryMB: 2048,
  onBuildLogs: defaultBuildLogger(),
})
```

```python title="Python"
# build.py
from e2b import Template, default_build_logger
from template import template as ssh_template

Template.build(ssh_template, "ssh-ready",
    cpu_count=2,
    memory_mb=2048,
    on_build_logs=default_build_logger(),
)
```
    </CodeGroup>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a sandbox from the template">
    <CodeGroup>
```typescript title="JavaScript & TypeScript"
import { Sandbox } from 'e2b'

const sbx = await Sandbox.create('ssh-ready')
console.log(sbx.sandboxId)
```

```python title="Python"
from e2b import Sandbox

sbx = Sandbox.create("ssh-ready")
print(sbx.sandbox_id)
```
    </CodeGroup>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect from your machine">
    <CodeGroup>
```bash title="macOS"
# Install websocat
brew install websocat

# Connect to your sandbox
ssh -o 'ProxyCommand=websocat --binary -B 65536 - wss://8081-%h.e2b.app' user@<sandbox-id>
```

```bash title="Linux"
# Install websocat
sudo curl -fsSL -o /usr/local/bin/websocat https://github.com/vi/websocat/releases/latest/download/websocat.x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/websocat

# Connect to your sandbox
ssh -o 'ProxyCommand=websocat --binary -B 65536 - wss://8081-%h.e2b.app' user@<sandbox-id>
```
    </CodeGroup>
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## How it works

This method uses [websocat](https://github.com/vi/websocat) to proxy SSH connections over WebSocket through the sandbox's exposed ports.

```
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Your Machine                                             │
│  ┌──────────┐    ProxyCommand    ┌──────────────────┐     │
│  │   SSH    │ ────────────────── │    websocat      │     │
│  │  Client  │                    │   (WebSocket)    │     │
│  └──────────┘                    └─────────┬────────┘     │
└────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────┘
                                             │
                         wss://8081-<sandbox-id>.e2b.app
                                             │
┌────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────┐
│  E2B Sandbox                               ▼              │
│                                  ┌──────────────────┐     │
│                                  │    websocat      │     │
│                                  │  (WS → TCP:22)   │     │
│                                  └─────────┬────────┘     │
│                                            │              │
│                                  ┌─────────▼────────┐     │
│                                  │   SSH Server     │     │
│                                  │   (OpenSSH)      │     │
│                                  └──────────────────┘     │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```