OpenSSH <i>client</i> private keys can be stored encrypted - that&#x27;s what ssh-agent is for: it allows you to enter the key passphrase only once and then remember it for the rest of your desktop session.<p>OpenSSH <i>server</i> private keys, on the other hand - I don&#x27;t think that makes a whole lot of sense. Unless you have a threat model that forces you to encrypt the entire server disk, but then adding private key encryption on top of that doesn&#x27;t make much sense either.