Setting up an SSH connection with Synergy 1

Written for Synergy 1 (v1.21.4), checked 3 October 2026.

The simplest way to encrypt Synergy 1 connections is its built-in TLS encryption: on the server, go to Edit > Preferences, open the Network tab and turn on Enable TLS Encryption (Synergy 1 Pro and Synergy 1 Business). For how Synergy 1 encrypts its traffic, see: Security and Architecture Overview

If you'd rather use SSH (Secure Shell) for encryption and authentication, tunnel the Synergy 1 connection through it:

1. Run an SSH server on the same computer as your Synergy 1 server. No special SSH configuration is needed.

2. On each Synergy 1 client, open a terminal and forward the Synergy 1 port through SSH:

   ssh -N -L 24800:server-hostname:24800 server-hostname

   Replace server-hostname with the address or hostname of your Synergy 1 server. Leave this window open while you use Synergy 1. If you changed the port in Synergy 1's Preferences, use that port instead of 24800.

3. Start the Synergy 1 client as usual, but enter localhost (or 127.0.0.1) as the server address. SSH encrypts the connection and handles authentication.

Note: OpenSSH is the default SSH implementation on most Linux and Unix-like systems, and it's built into Windows 10 (version 1809) and later. To turn on the SSH server on a Windows server computer, see: Get started with OpenSSH Server for Windows

For the ports Synergy 1 uses, see: What ports does Synergy use?