Paramiko

4.0.0 · active · verified Sat Mar 28

Paramiko is a native Python SSHv2 protocol library, providing both client and server functionality. The current version is 4.0.0, released on March 28, 2026. It follows a regular release cadence, with updates and patches released as needed.

Warnings

breaking In version 4.0.0, the default policy for handling unknown host keys has changed to AutoAddPolicy, which automatically adds unknown host keys to the local host key database. This may introduce security risks if not properly managed.
Fix: Review and manage host key policies to ensure secure connections.
gotcha The SSHClient.connect() method now requires the 'hostname', 'username', and 'password' parameters to be explicitly provided or set as environment variables. Omitting these will result in a TypeError.
Fix: Ensure all required parameters are provided when calling SSHClient.connect().

Install

pip install paramiko Install Paramiko

Imports

SSHClient
```
from paramiko import SSHClient
```
Ensure correct import path to avoid ImportError.
AutoAddPolicy
```
from paramiko import AutoAddPolicy
```
Ensure correct import path to avoid ImportError.

Quickstart

A basic example demonstrating how to use Paramiko to connect to an SSH server and execute a command. Replace 'hostname', 'user', and 'password' with your server's details, or set them as environment variables.

import os
from paramiko import SSHClient, AutoAddPolicy

# Set up SSH client
client = SSHClient()
client.set_missing_host_key_policy(AutoAddPolicy())

# Connect to the server
client.connect(os.environ.get('SSH_HOST', 'hostname'), username=os.environ.get('SSH_USER', 'user'), password=os.environ.get('SSH_PASSWORD', 'password'))

# Execute a command
stdin, stdout, stderr = client.exec_command('ls')
print(stdout.read().decode())

# Close the connection
client.close()

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