Enable SSH transfer on Steam Deck

General Discussion Off-topic
1

Enable SSH transfer

Connect a keyboard to your Steam deck for easier setup.

1. Access Konsole terminal

  1. Switch to Desktop Mode: Steam-Button -> Power -> Switch to Desktop
  2. Open up the Konsole Terminal: Bottom-Left Button -> System -> Konsole
    Tip: Add Konsole to desktop for easy access.

1.1 Set up a password for your Steam Deck

IMPORTANT Use a password that you will never forget. If you lose it you will most likely have to reset your Steam Deck.

Open the Konsole terminal and enter the following command:

passwd

You will be asked to enter and confirm a password. The input is hidden so make sure you type it correctly.

This will let you protect your Steam Deck after enabling SSH on the system. You will be asked to enter this password when you want to make administrator changes in desktop mode as well as when connecting wirelessly to the Steam Deck.

1.2 Enable SSH (Secure Shell) on Steam Deck

In Konsole terminal, enable the SSH background program by entering the following:

sudo systemctl enable sshd --now

You will be asked to enter your password.

The command to disable SSH is:

sudo systemctl disable sshd --now

1.3 Note down your Steam Deck IP address

In Konsole terminal, enter the following:

ip addr | grep wlan0 | grep inet

The result will look something like:

inet 192.168.1.10 brd ...

Note down the IP address shown directly after inet , in this case 192.168.1.10

2. Download FileZilla

2.1 Add the Steam Deck connection

Click “Open site manager” in top left corner.

  1. Click new site
  2. Enter a name for the new connection; I chose Steam Deck
  3. Select SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol in the Protocol dropdown.
    • Enter the IP address you found in the previous section in the Host field
  4. Select Ask for password in the Logon Type dropdown.
    • The default username for the Steam Deck is deck. This should be entered in the User field unless you have changed the username.
  5. Click connect

You now have full access to the Steam Deck file system.

2.2 Navigating FileZilla

  • The top box (green) will show you the status of your connection as well as a log of the actions you are performing.
  • The left box (blue) is the file system of your PC. You don’t really need to use this.
  • The right box (orange) is the file system of your Steam Deck.
    • Moving or deleting important Steam Deck system files could be harmful to the system. Only move files that you are currently transferring

I suggest dragging and dropping files directly from your PC’s explorer / finder into the folders in the orange box.

Double-click the .. At the very top of the orange box to traverse the file system one layer backwards.

After connecting to the Steam Deck and in order access the location of my SD card I need to:

  1. Double-click .. twice
  2. Double-click the run folder
  3. Double-click the media folder
  4. The media folder contains my Sandisk SD card.