diff --git a/mlonmcu/target/ssh_target.py b/mlonmcu/target/ssh_target.py
index 30cfbf32..4ca65eb3 100644
--- a/mlonmcu/target/ssh_target.py
+++ b/mlonmcu/target/ssh_target.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 
 # import tempfile
 # import time
-import socket
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import paramiko
@@ -87,48 +86,30 @@ def workdir(self):
     def __repr__(self):
         return f"SSHTarget({self.name})"
 
-    def check_remote(self):
-        ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
-        try:
-            ssh.connect(self.hostname, port=self.port, username=self.username, password=self.password)
-            # TODO: key_filename=key_file)
-            return True
-        except (BadHostKeyException, AuthenticationException, SSHException, socket.error) as e:
-            print(e)  # TODO: remove
-            return False
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def create_remote_directory(self, path):
-        ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
-        # ssh.load_host_keys(os.path.expanduser(os.path.join("~", ".ssh", "known_hosts")))
-        if self.ignore_known_hosts:
-            ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
-        ssh.connect(self.hostname, port=self.port, username=self.username, password=self.password)
+    # def check_remote(self):
+    #     ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
+    #     try:
+    #         ssh.connect(self.hostname, port=self.port, username=self.username, password=self.password)
+    #         # TODO: key_filename=key_file)
+    #         return True
+    #     except (BadHostKeyException, AuthenticationException, SSHException, socket.error) as e:
+    #         print(e)  # TODO: remove
+    #         return False
+    #     raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def create_remote_directory(self, ssh, path):
         command = f"mkdir -p {path}"
         stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command(command)
-        ssh.close()
-
-    def copy_to_remote(self, src, dest):
-        ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
-        # ssh.load_host_keys(os.path.expanduser(os.path.join("~", ".ssh", "known_hosts")))
-        if self.ignore_known_hosts:
-            ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
-        ssh.connect(self.hostname, port=self.port, username=self.username, password=self.password)
+
+    def copy_to_remote(self, ssh, src, dest):
         sftp = ssh.open_sftp()
         sftp.put(str(src), str(dest))
         sftp.close()
-        ssh.close()
-
-    def copy_from_remote(self, src, dest):
-        ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
-        # ssh.load_host_keys(os.path.expanduser(os.path.join("~", ".ssh", "known_hosts")))
-        if self.ignore_known_hosts:
-            ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
-        ssh.connect(self.hostname, port=self.port, username=self.username, password=self.password)
+
+    def copy_from_remote(self, ssh, src, dest):
         sftp = ssh.open_sftp()
         sftp.get(str(src), str(dest))
         sftp.close()
-        ssh.close()
 
     def parse_exit(self, out):
         exit_code = super().parse_exit(out)
@@ -139,30 +120,29 @@ def parse_exit(self, out):
 
     def exec_via_ssh(self, program: Path, *args, cwd=os.getcwd(), **kwargs):
         # TODO: keep connection established!
-        self.check_remote()
-        if self.workdir is None:
-            raise NotImplementedError("temp workdir")
-        else:
-            self.create_remote_directory(self.workdir)
-            workdir = self.workdir
-        remote_program = workdir / program.name
-        self.copy_to_remote(program, remote_program)
-        ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
-        # ssh.load_host_keys(os.path.expanduser(os.path.join("~", ".ssh", "known_hosts")))
-        if self.ignore_known_hosts:
-            ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
-        ssh.connect(self.hostname, port=self.port, username=self.username, password=self.password)
-        args_str = " ".join(args)
-        command = f"cd {workdir} && chmod +x {remote_program} && {remote_program} {args_str}; echo SSH EXIT=$?"
-        stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command(command)
-        # print("stdin", stdin)
-        # print("stdout", stdout)
-        # print("stderr", stderr)
-        output = stderr.read().strip() + stdout.read().strip()
-        output = output.decode()
-        if self.print_outputs:
-            print("output", output)  # TODO: cleanup
-        ssh.close()
+        # self.check_remote()
+        with paramiko.SSHClient() as ssh:
+            # ssh.load_host_keys(os.path.expanduser(os.path.join("~", ".ssh", "known_hosts")))
+            if self.ignore_known_hosts:
+                ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
+            ssh.connect(self.hostname, port=self.port, username=self.username, password=self.password)
+            if self.workdir is None:
+                raise NotImplementedError("temp workdir")
+            else:
+                self.create_remote_directory(ssh, self.workdir)
+                workdir = self.workdir
+            remote_program = workdir / program.name
+            self.copy_to_remote(ssh, program, remote_program)
+            args_str = " ".join(args)
+            command = f"cd {workdir} && chmod +x {remote_program} && {remote_program} {args_str}; echo SSH EXIT=$?"
+            stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command(command)
+            # print("stdin", stdin)
+            # print("stdout", stdout)
+            # print("stderr", stderr)
+            output = stderr.read().strip() + stdout.read().strip()
+            output = output.decode()
+            if self.print_outputs:
+                print("output", output)  # TODO: cleanup
         return output