How to Restart SSH Service

Prerequisites

Before restarting SSH, make sure you have:

• SSH access to your VPS (current session will stay connected)
• Root or sudo privileges

Method 1: Using systemctl (Ubuntu 16.04+, Debian 8+, CentOS 7+)

Connect to your VPS:

ssh hxroot@YOUR_SERVER_IP -p 22

Restart SSH:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

For Ubuntu/Debian (sometimes called ssh instead of sshd):

sudo systemctl restart ssh

Check status after restart:

sudo systemctl status sshd

Method 2: Using service command (Older Systems)

sudo service sshd restart

Or:

sudo service ssh restart

Method 3: Using init.d script (Legacy)

sudo /etc/init.d/sshd restart

Reload vs Restart

Reload (gentle, no disconnection of existing sessions):

sudo systemctl reload sshd

Restart (full stop and start):

sudo systemctl restart sshd

Use reload when possible as it doesn't interrupt existing connections.

Verify SSH is Running

sudo systemctl is-active sshd

Should output:

active

Check SSH Listening Port

sudo netstat -tulpn | grep sshd

Test New SSH Connection

Open a new terminal and try connecting:

ssh hxroot@YOUR_SERVER_IP -p 22

Troubleshooting Failed Restart

If SSH fails to restart, check config for errors:

sudo sshd -t

Command output: nothing = OK, error message = fix the error.

View SSH logs:

sudo journalctl -u sshd -n 50

Enable SSH on Boot

Make sure SSH starts automatically after reboot:

sudo systemctl enable sshd

Check if enabled:

sudo systemctl is-enabled sshd

Common Restart Commands by OS

• Ubuntu/Debian: sudo systemctl restart ssh
• CentOS/RHEL 7+: sudo systemctl restart sshd
• CentOS/RHEL 6: sudo service sshd restart
• Alpine Linux: sudo rc-service sshd restart