Keep SSH Connections Open in Linux

If you like to have ready-to-go access to remote machines (or a home server, perhaps) from your Linux desktop, you might have noticed that you can’t always get what you want. Many home and office routers kill “idle” connections after a certain length of time, forcing you to log in again. The FOSSwire blog points out a one-line addition to the end of the client’s SSH configuration file (found at /etc/ssh/sshd_config in many systems) to fix this:

ServerAliveInterval 180

That should send a little ping out every three minutes to ensure the connection is kept alive. This tip should work on most any OpenSSH server that allows access to its sshd_config file, but, as FOSSwire points out, it means any connections you leave open are just that—open to any nefarious passer-by, so use session-closing caution when needed.