I know now why sshd is not running. The directory /run/sshd is missing. dpkg-reconfigure openssh-server or service ssh restart from armbian-firstrun delete the directory if it is there. Just restarting sshd via the console recreates it (as defined in its service).   sshd -t Missing privilege separation directory: /run/sshd   It can easily reproduced by enabling the armbian-firstrun service and a reboot. It runs through its things on the next boot and the directory is gone.