diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
index ddbb9383b..16cd14340 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ jobs:
           disk_request: 1G
           gpu_request: 0
           lfs_auto_fetch: false
+          ssh_request: false
         serverOptions:
           cpu_request:
             order: 1
diff --git a/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/templates/statefulset.yaml b/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/templates/statefulset.yaml
index f1cbc0d4f..83657df66 100644
--- a/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/templates/statefulset.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/templates/statefulset.yaml
@@ -166,6 +166,8 @@ spec:
               value: {{ .Values.sessionAutosave.terminationGracePeriodSeconds | quote }}
             - name: NB_SESSIONS__AUTOSAVE_MINIMUM_LFS_FILE_SIZE_BYTES
               value: {{ .Values.sessionAutosave.minimumLFSFileSizeBytes | quote }}
+            - name: NB_SESSION_SSH__ENABLED
+              value: {{ .Values.session_ssh.enabled | quote }}
             - name: NB_VERSION
               value: {{ .Values.image.tag | quote }}
             {{ if .Values.sessionsNamespace }}
diff --git a/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/values.schema.json b/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/values.schema.json
index d11575d02..44a37e121 100644
--- a/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/values.schema.json
+++ b/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/values.schema.json
@@ -233,7 +233,8 @@
                 "mem_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/informationAmount" },
                 "lfs_auto_fetch": { "type": "boolean" },
                 "gpu_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/gpuRequest" },
-                "disk_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/informationAmountOrNull" }
+                "disk_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/informationAmountOrNull" },
+                "ssh_request": { "type": "boolean" }
             },
             "required": [
                 "defaultUrl",
@@ -241,7 +242,8 @@
                 "mem_request",
                 "lfs_auto_fetch",
                 "gpu_request",
-                "disk_request"
+                "disk_request",
+                "ssh_request"
             ],
             "type": "object",
             "additionalProperties": false
@@ -254,7 +256,8 @@
                 "mem_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/serverOptionMemory" },
                 "lfs_auto_fetch": { "$ref": "#/definitions/serverOptionBool" },
                 "gpu_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/serverOptionGpu" },
-                "disk_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/serverOptionDisk" }
+                "disk_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/serverOptionDisk" },
+                "ssh_request": { "$ref": "#/definitions/serverOptionBool" }
             },
             "required": [
                 "lfs_auto_fetch"
diff --git a/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/values.yaml b/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/values.yaml
index 877b87305..8ef7c13ef 100644
--- a/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/values.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/renku-notebooks/values.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ global:
     clientSecret:
   keycloak:
     ## The name of the realm in Keycloak used by Renku
-    realm:  
+    realm:
 
 amalthea:
   scope:
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ cloudstorage:
     enabled: false
     readOnly: true
 
+session_ssh:
+  enabled: false
+
 # configuration for user session persistent volumes
 userSessionPersistentVolumes:
   enabled: true
@@ -215,6 +218,11 @@ serverOptions:
     displayName: Automatically fetch LFS data
     type: boolean
     default: false
+  ssh_request:
+    order: 6
+    displayName: Enable SSH connections
+    type: boolean
+    default: false
 
 ## Default server option values used to launch a session when
 ## such values are not provided explicitly in the post request.
@@ -229,6 +237,7 @@ serverDefaults:
   disk_request: 1G
   gpu_request: 0
   lfs_auto_fetch: false
+  ssh_request: false
 
 ## How to enforce CPU limits for sessions, options are "lax", "off" or "strict"
 ## - "strict" = CPU limit equals cpu request
diff --git a/renku_notebooks/api/amalthea_patches/jupyter_server.py b/renku_notebooks/api/amalthea_patches/jupyter_server.py
index 853b30a41..856f66997 100644
--- a/renku_notebooks/api/amalthea_patches/jupyter_server.py
+++ b/renku_notebooks/api/amalthea_patches/jupyter_server.py
@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@ def env(server: "UserServer"):
             "path": "/statefulset/spec/template/spec/containers/0/env/-",
             "value": {"name": "GIT_CLONE_REPO", "value": "true"},
         },
+        {
+            "op": "add",
+            "path": "/statefulset/spec/template/spec/containers/0/env/-",
+            "value": {
+                "name": "RENKU_ENABLE_SSH",
+                "value": "1" if server.server_options.get("ssh_request") else "0",
+            },
+        },
     ]
 
     if server.environment_variables:
diff --git a/renku_notebooks/api/classes/server_manifest.py b/renku_notebooks/api/classes/server_manifest.py
index d876a20e8..d174699b5 100644
--- a/renku_notebooks/api/classes/server_manifest.py
+++ b/renku_notebooks/api/classes/server_manifest.py
@@ -64,6 +64,17 @@ def server_options(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
                     for env in patch.get("value", {}).get("env", []):
                         if env.get("name") == "GIT_CLONE_LFS_AUTO_FETCH":
                             server_options["lfs_auto_fetch"] = env.get("value") == "1"
+        # ssh request
+        if config.sessions.session_ssh_enabled:
+            for patches in js["spec"]["patches"]:
+                for patch in patches.get("patch", []):
+                    if (
+                        patch.get("path")
+                        == "/statefulset/spec/template/spec/containers/0/env/-"
+                    ):
+                        for env in patch.get("value", {}).get("env", []):
+                            if env.get("name") == "RENKU_ENABLE_SSH":
+                                server_options["ssh_request"] = env.get("value") == "1"
         return {
             **config.server_options.defaults,
             **server_options,
diff --git a/renku_notebooks/api/schemas/config_server_options.py b/renku_notebooks/api/schemas/config_server_options.py
index 04b5b6127..fb3c09378 100644
--- a/renku_notebooks/api/schemas/config_server_options.py
+++ b/renku_notebooks/api/schemas/config_server_options.py
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ class ServerOptionsChoices(Schema):
     disk_request = fields.Nested(MemoryServerOptionsChoice, required=False)
     lfs_auto_fetch = fields.Nested(BoolServerOptionsChoice, required=False)
     gpu_request = fields.Nested(GpuServerOptionsChoice, required=False)
+    ssh_request = fields.Nested(BoolServerOptionsChoice, required=False)
 
 
 class ServerOptionsDefaults(Schema):
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ class ServerOptionsDefaults(Schema):
     disk_request = ByteSizeField(required=True)
     lfs_auto_fetch = fields.Bool(required=True)
     gpu_request = GpuField(required=True)
+    ssh_request = fields.Bool(required=True)
 
 
 class CloudStorageServerOption(Schema):
diff --git a/renku_notebooks/api/schemas/server_options.py b/renku_notebooks/api/schemas/server_options.py
index 534c5cc14..e9acbeeb1 100644
--- a/renku_notebooks/api/schemas/server_options.py
+++ b/renku_notebooks/api/schemas/server_options.py
@@ -80,3 +80,6 @@ class LaunchNotebookRequestServerOptions(Schema):
             config.server_options.defaults,
         ),
     )
+    ssh_request = fields.Bool(
+        required=False, missing=config.server_options.defaults["ssh_request"]
+    )
diff --git a/renku_notebooks/config/__init__.py b/renku_notebooks/config/__init__.py
index b250596b7..94b658658 100644
--- a/renku_notebooks/config/__init__.py
+++ b/renku_notebooks/config/__init__.py
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ def get_config(default_config: str) -> _NotebooksConfig:
     }
     enforce_cpu_limits: false
     autosave_minimum_lfs_file_size_bytes: 1000000
+    session_ssh_enabled: false
     termination_grace_period_seconds: 600
     image_default_workdir: /home/jovyan
     node_selector: "{}"
diff --git a/renku_notebooks/config/dynamic.py b/renku_notebooks/config/dynamic.py
index 01f15694c..6707bb5c0 100644
--- a/renku_notebooks/config/dynamic.py
+++ b/renku_notebooks/config/dynamic.py
@@ -187,6 +187,7 @@ class _SessionConfig:
     default_image: Text = "renku/singleuser:latest"
     enforce_cpu_limits: Union[Text, bool] = False
     autosave_minimum_lfs_file_size_bytes: Union[int, Text] = 1000000
+    session_ssh_enabled: Union[Text, bool] = False
     termination_grace_period_seconds: Union[int, Text] = 600
     image_default_workdir: Text = "/home/jovyan"
     node_selector: Text = "{}"
diff --git a/tests/unit/dummy_server_options.json b/tests/unit/dummy_server_options.json
index 9124d5daa..c41bba2fb 100644
--- a/tests/unit/dummy_server_options.json
+++ b/tests/unit/dummy_server_options.json
@@ -38,5 +38,11 @@
       "min": "1G",
       "max": "100G"
     }
+  },
+  "ssh_request": {
+    "default": false,
+    "displayName": "Enable SSH connections",
+    "order": 6,
+    "type": "boolean"
   }
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_server_class/test_manifest.py b/tests/unit/test_server_class/test_manifest.py
index f5ea2673e..6a55d3ac7 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_server_class/test_manifest.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_server_class/test_manifest.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ def test_session_manifest(
                 "cpu_request": "100",
                 "mem_request": "100",
                 "disk_request": "100",
+                "ssh_request": 0,
             },
             "branch": "master",
             "commit_sha": "abcdefg123456789",