> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.novita.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# SSH access

<Note>
  If you just need an interactive terminal, you can connect directly to the sandbox's Remote Shell with the CLI `connect` command — no SSH setup required. See [Remote Shell](/guides/sandbox-cli-spawn-sandbox) for details.
</Note>

You can use a WebSocket proxy to connect to your sandbox via SSH.

By using SSH, you can securely connect to a remote command-line environment, transfer files through protocols such as SCP or SFTP, and work with software that relies on SSH-based connections.

## Quickstart

### 1. Build the SSH template

Define a template that includes an OpenSSH server for SSH access and [websocat](https://github.com/vi/websocat) for forwarding WebSocket-based connections.

<CodeGroup>
  ```js JavaScript & TypeScript icon="js" theme={"system"}
  import { Novita, waitForPort } from 'novita-sandbox'

  const novita = new Novita()

  const template = novita.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)
    )

  await novita.template.build(template, 'ssh-ready', {
    cpuCount: 2,
    memoryMB: 2048,
  })
  ```

  ```python Python icon="python" theme={"system"}
  from novita_sandbox import Novita

  novita = Novita()

  template = (
      novita.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",
          novita.template.wait_for_port(8081),
      )
  )

  novita.template.build(template, "ssh-ready", cpu_count=2, memory_mb=2048)
  ```
</CodeGroup>

### 2. Launch a sandbox from that template

<CodeGroup>
  ```js JavaScript & TypeScript icon="js" theme={"system"}
  import { Novita } from 'novita-sandbox'

  const novita = new Novita()
  const sbx = await novita.sandbox.create('ssh-ready')
  console.log(sbx.sandboxId)
  ```

  ```python Python icon="python" theme={"system"}
  from novita_sandbox import Novita

  novita = Novita()
  sbx = novita.sandbox.create("ssh-ready")
  print(sbx.sandbox_id)
  ```
</CodeGroup>

### 3. Connect from your local machine

**macOS**

```bash CLI icon="terminal" theme={"system"}
# Install websocat
brew install websocat

# Connect to your sandbox
ssh -o 'ProxyCommand=websocat --binary -B 65536 - wss://8081-%h.sandbox.novita.ai' user@
```

**Linux**

```bash CLI icon="terminal" theme={"system"}
# 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.sandbox.novita.ai' user@
```

## How it works

[Websocat](https://github.com/vi/websocat) acts as the proxy, and SSH connections are forwarded over WebSocket through the sandbox's exposed ports.