Supported Systems and Distributions

This document explains which Linux distributions, devices, and systems SSH Everywhere can manage, and how feature completeness differs across them.

In a Nutshell

SSH Everywhere's core is SSH connection + remote command execution, so any Linux with an SSH service (sshd) installed can connect. But feature completeness is tiered — it depends on whether the target machine has systemd and python3, and which package manager it uses.

Tiered Support

✅ Tier 1: Full Support (recommended, all features available)

Mainstream systemd distributions. All of the following features are available: Health Detection, Crash Prevention (systemd auto-start on boot + automatic restart on crash), Tunneling Agent, Docker management, File management, Process management, Cron Jobs, Website Management.

Distribution	Package Manager	Notes
Debian / Ubuntu (including Raspberry Pi Raspbian)	apt	Most recommended, best compatibility
CentOS / RHEL / Rocky / AlmaLinux	yum / dnf	Mainstream for servers
Fedora	dnf	Newer
Arch / Manjaro	pacman	Rolling release
openSUSE	zypper

✅ Tier 2: Mostly Complete, Only Crash Prevention Lacks Auto-start

Lightweight distributions without systemd. Crash Prevention automatically falls back to running via nohup (still monitors normally, but will not auto-restart the daemon after a reboot); all other features work normally.

Distribution	Package Manager	Notes
Alpine	apk	Ultra-lightweight (busybox + musl); Tunneling Agent installation has been adapted for apk

✅ Tier 3: Special Support (non-traditional Linux, still usable)

System	Level of Support
Android / Termux	Dedicated one-click install script (auto-installs Agent + follows Termux startup); Health Detection can identify device model / Android version
FreeBSD	Health Detection has a dedicated branch (freebsd-version / sysctl / vm_stat), but Docker and systemd-related features do not apply
macOS	Can connect; Health Detection can identify it (sw_vers / vm_stat), mainly used as a test machine

Two Hard Dependencies

1. python3: both the Crash Prevention daemon and the Tunneling Agent require python3 on the target machine. The vast majority of mainstream distributions ship it or can install it with one command.

2. Package manager: the Tunneling Agent's dependency install script is adapted for three package managers — apt / yum-dnf / apk. On distributions using other package managers (pacman, zypper), the Agent's encryption dependency may need to be installed manually — it still works fine without it, only the tunnel runs in plaintext mode.

How to Determine a Server's Tier

After connecting in the panel, open that server's "Server Management panel" and look at a few key signals:

Signal	Meaning
Health Detection shows CPU model / memory / disk	At least Tier 1 or Tier 3 support
System info shows "FreeBSD" / "macOS" / "Android"	Corresponds to Tier 3
Crash Prevention shows an "auto-start on boot" badge after deployment	Has systemd (Tier 1)
Crash Prevention shows no "auto-start on boot" badge after deployment	No systemd, fell back to nohup (Tier 2)

Glossary

systemd: the system and service manager of modern Linux, responsible for boot startup and service management. systemd is required for "auto-start on boot".
Package manager: the tool for installing software on Linux, e.g. apt (Debian/Ubuntu), yum/dnf (CentOS/RHEL), apk (Alpine), pacman (Arch).

Recommended Test Matrix

If you want to spin up a few machines to verify compatibility across systems, it's best to pick one representative per "package manager + init system" combination for the widest coverage:

1. Debian 12 (apt + systemd) — the mainstream baseline

2. Rocky Linux 9 or CentOS Stream (dnf + systemd) — the RHEL family

3. Alpine (apk + no systemd) — lightweight + the nohup fallback path

4. Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 (apt + systemd) — the most common

These four cover three package managers plus both init variants (with/without systemd), representing the mainstream Linux server landscape well.

Documentation