diff --git a/block/Makefile.objs b/block/Makefile.objs
index c067f38..6c4b5bc 100644
--- a/block/Makefile.objs
+++ b/block/Makefile.objs
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ block-obj-$(CONFIG_LIBISCSI) += iscsi.o
 block-obj-$(CONFIG_CURL) += curl.o
 block-obj-$(CONFIG_RBD) += rbd.o
 block-obj-$(CONFIG_GLUSTERFS) += gluster.o
+block-obj-$(CONFIG_LIBSSH2) += ssh.o
 endif
 
 common-obj-y += stream.o
diff --git a/block/ssh.c b/block/ssh.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7071cfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/block/ssh.c
@@ -0,0 +1,514 @@
+/*
+ * Secure Shell (ssh) backend for QEMU.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2013 Red Hat Inc., Richard W.M. Jones <rjones@redhat.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdarg.h>
+
+#ifndef _WIN32
+#include <pwd.h>
+#endif
+
+#include <libssh2.h>
+#include <libssh2_sftp.h>
+
+#include "block/block_int.h"
+#include "qemu/sockets.h"
+#include "qemu/uri.h"
+
+#define SECTOR_SIZE 512
+
+static void __attribute__((constructor)) ssh_init(void)
+{
+    int r;
+
+    r = libssh2_init(0);
+    if (r != 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "libssh2 initialization failed, %d\n", r);
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
+}
+
+typedef struct BDRVSSHState {
+    CoMutex lock;               /* coroutine lock */
+
+    /* configuration */
+    char *user;                 /* remote username */
+    char *host;                 /* hostname and port */
+    char *path;                 /* path to remote disk image */
+
+    /* ssh connection */
+    int sock;                         /* socket */
+    LIBSSH2_SESSION *session;         /* ssh session */
+    LIBSSH2_SFTP *sftp;               /* sftp session */
+    LIBSSH2_SFTP_HANDLE *sftp_handle; /* sftp remote file handle */
+
+    /* file attributes (at open) */
+    LIBSSH2_SFTP_ATTRIBUTES attrs;
+} BDRVSSHState;
+
+/* Wrappers around error_report which make sure to dump as much
+ * information from libssh2 as possible.
+ */
+static void
+session_error_report(BDRVSSHState *s, const char *fs, ...)
+{
+    va_list args;
+
+    va_start(args, fs);
+
+    if ((s)->session) {
+        char *ssh_err;
+        int ssh_err_len = sizeof ssh_err;
+        int ssh_err_code;
+
+        libssh2_session_last_error((s)->session,
+                                   &ssh_err, &ssh_err_len, 0);
+        /* This is not an errno.  See <libssh2.h>. */
+        ssh_err_code = libssh2_session_last_errno((s)->session);
+
+        error_vprintf(fs, args);
+        error_printf(": %s (libssh2 error code: %d)", ssh_err, ssh_err_code);
+    }
+    else {
+        error_vprintf(fs, args);
+    }
+
+    va_end(args);
+    error_printf("\n");
+}
+
+static void
+sftp_error_report(BDRVSSHState *s, const char *fs, ...)
+{
+    va_list args;
+
+    va_start(args, fs);
+
+    if ((s)->sftp) {
+        char *ssh_err;
+        int ssh_err_len = sizeof ssh_err;
+        int ssh_err_code;
+        unsigned long sftp_err_code;
+
+        libssh2_session_last_error((s)->session,
+                                   &ssh_err, &ssh_err_len, 0);
+        /* This is not an errno.  See <libssh2.h>. */
+        ssh_err_code = libssh2_session_last_errno((s)->session);
+        /* See <libssh2_sftp.h>. */
+        sftp_err_code = libssh2_sftp_last_error((s)->sftp);
+
+        error_vprintf(fs, args);
+        error_printf(": %s (libssh2 error code: %d, sftp error code: %lu)",
+                     ssh_err, ssh_err_code, sftp_err_code);
+    }
+    else {
+        error_vprintf(fs, args);
+    }
+
+    va_end(args);
+    error_printf("\n");
+}
+
+#ifndef _WIN32
+static char *get_username(void)
+{
+    struct passwd *pwd;
+
+    pwd = getpwuid(geteuid ());
+    if (!pwd) {
+        error_report("failed to get current user name");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    return g_strdup(pwd->pw_name);
+}
+#else
+static char *get_username(void)
+{
+    error_report("on Windows, specify a remote user name in the URI");
+    return NULL;
+}
+#endif
+
+static int parse_uri(BDRVSSHState *s, const char *filename)
+{
+    URI *uri;
+
+    uri = uri_parse(filename);
+    if (!uri)
+        return -EINVAL;
+
+    if (strcmp(uri->scheme, "ssh") != 0) {
+        error_report("URI scheme must be 'ssh'");
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    if (!uri->server || strcmp(uri->server, "") == 0) {
+        error_report("missing hostname in URI");
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    if (!uri->path || strcmp(uri->path, "") == 0) {
+        error_report("missing remote path in URI");
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    /* If user is defined in the URI, use it.  Else use local username. */
+    if(uri->user && strcmp(uri->user, "") != 0)
+        s->user = g_strdup(uri->user);
+    else {
+        s->user = get_username();
+        if (!s->user)
+            goto err;
+    }
+
+    /* Construct the hostname:port string for inet_connect. */
+    if(uri->port == 0)
+        uri->port = 22;
+    s->host = g_strdup_printf("%s:%d", uri->server, uri->port);
+
+    s->path = g_strdup(uri->path);
+
+    return 0;
+
+ err:
+    uri_free(uri);
+    return -EINVAL;
+}
+
+static int connect_to_ssh(BDRVSSHState *s)
+{
+    int r, ret;
+    const char *userauthlist;
+    LIBSSH2_AGENT *agent = NULL;
+    struct libssh2_agent_publickey *identity;
+    struct libssh2_agent_publickey *prev_identity = NULL;
+
+    s->session = libssh2_session_init();
+    if (!s->session) {
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        session_error_report(s, "failed to initialize libssh2 session");
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    r = libssh2_session_handshake(s->session, s->sock);
+    if (r != 0) {
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        session_error_report(s, "failed to establish SSH session");
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+#if 0
+    /* Check the remote host's key against known_hosts. */
+    ret = check_host_key (s);
+    if (ret < 0)
+        goto err;
+#endif
+
+    /* Authenticate. */
+    userauthlist = libssh2_userauth_list(s->session, s->user, strlen(s->user));
+    if (strstr(userauthlist, "publickey") == NULL) {
+        ret = -EPERM;
+        error_report("remote server does not support \"publickey\" authentication");
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    /* Connect to ssh-agent and try each identity in turn. */
+    agent = libssh2_agent_init(s->session);
+    if (!agent) {
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        session_error_report(s, "failed to initialize ssh-agent support");
+        goto err;
+    }
+    if (libssh2_agent_connect(agent)) {
+        ret = -ECONNREFUSED;
+        session_error_report(s, "failed to connect to ssh-agent");
+        goto err;
+    }
+    if (libssh2_agent_list_identities(agent)) {
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        session_error_report(s, "failed requesting identities from ssh-agent");
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    for(;;) {
+        r = libssh2_agent_get_identity(agent, &identity, prev_identity);
+        if (r == 1)             /* end of list */
+            break;
+        if (r < 0) {
+            ret = -EINVAL;
+            session_error_report(s, "failed to obtain identity from ssh-agent");
+            goto err;
+        }
+        r = libssh2_agent_userauth(agent, s->user, identity);
+        if (r == 0)
+            goto authenticated;
+        /* Failed to authenticate with this identity, try the next one. */
+        prev_identity = identity;
+    }
+
+    ret = -EPERM;
+    error_report("failed to authenticate using publickey authentication "
+                 "and the identities held by your ssh-agent");
+    goto err;
+
+ authenticated:
+    libssh2_agent_disconnect(agent);
+    libssh2_agent_free(agent);
+    agent = NULL;
+
+    /* Start SFTP. */
+    s->sftp = libssh2_sftp_init(s->session);
+    if (!s->sftp) {
+        session_error_report(s, "failed to initialize sftp handle");
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    s->sftp_handle = libssh2_sftp_open(s->sftp, s->path,
+                                       LIBSSH2_FXF_READ|LIBSSH2_FXF_WRITE,
+                                       0);
+    if (!s->sftp_handle) {
+        session_error_report(s, "failed to open remote file '%s'", s->path);
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    r = libssh2_sftp_fstat(s->sftp_handle, &s->attrs);
+    if (r < 0) {
+        sftp_error_report(s, "failed to read file attributes of '%s'",
+                          s->path);
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+
+ err:
+    if (s->sftp_handle)
+        libssh2_sftp_close(s->sftp_handle);
+    s->sftp_handle = NULL;
+    if (s->sftp)
+        libssh2_sftp_shutdown(s->sftp);
+    s->sftp = NULL;
+    if (s->session) {
+        libssh2_session_disconnect(s->session,
+                                   "from qemu ssh client: "
+                                   "error opening connection");
+        libssh2_session_free(s->session);
+    }
+    s->session = NULL;
+
+    if (agent) {
+        libssh2_agent_disconnect(agent);
+        libssh2_agent_free(agent);
+    }
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+static int ssh_file_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename,
+                         int bdrv_flags)
+{
+    BDRVSSHState *s = bs->opaque;
+    int ret;
+    Error *err = NULL;
+
+    s->sock = -1;
+
+    ret = parse_uri(s, filename);
+    if (ret < 0)
+        goto err;
+
+    /* Open the socket and connect. */
+    s->sock = inet_connect(s->host, &err);
+    if (err != NULL) {
+        ret = -errno;
+        qerror_report_err(err);
+        error_free(err);
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    /* Start up SSH. */
+    ret = connect_to_ssh(s);
+    if (ret < 0)
+        goto err;
+
+#if 0 /* Enable this when AIO callbacks are implemented. */
+    /* Go non-blocking. */
+    libssh2_session_set_blocking(s->session, 0);
+#endif
+
+    qemu_co_mutex_init(&s->lock);
+
+    return 0;
+
+ err:
+    if (s->sock >= 0)
+        close(s->sock);
+    s->sock = -1;
+
+    g_free(s->path);
+    s->path = NULL;
+    g_free(s->host);
+    s->host = NULL;
+    g_free(s->user);
+    s->user = NULL;
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+static void ssh_close(BlockDriverState *bs)
+{
+    BDRVSSHState *s = bs->opaque;
+
+    if (s->sftp_handle)
+        libssh2_sftp_close(s->sftp_handle);
+    if (s->sftp)
+        libssh2_sftp_shutdown(s->sftp);
+    if (s->session) {
+        libssh2_session_disconnect(s->session,
+                                   "from qemu ssh client: "
+                                   "user closed the connection");
+        libssh2_session_free(s->session);
+    }
+    if (s->sock >= 0)
+        close(s->sock);
+
+    g_free(s->path);
+    g_free(s->host);
+    g_free(s->user);
+}
+
+static coroutine_fn int ssh_read(BDRVSSHState *s,
+                                int64_t offset, char *buf, size_t size)
+{
+    ssize_t r;
+    size_t got;
+
+    /* According to the docs, this just updates a field in the
+     * sftp_handle structure, so there is no network traffic and it
+     * cannot fail.
+     */
+    libssh2_sftp_seek64(s->sftp_handle, offset);
+
+    /* libssh2 has a hard-coded limit of 2000 bytes per request,
+     * although it will also do readahead behind our backs.  Therefore
+     * we may have to do repeated reads here until we have read 'size'
+     * bytes.
+     */
+    for (got = 0; got < size; ) {
+    again:
+        r = libssh2_sftp_read(s->sftp_handle, buf + got, size - got);
+
+        if (r == LIBSSH2_ERROR_EAGAIN || r == LIBSSH2_ERROR_TIMEOUT)
+            goto again;
+        if (r < 0) {
+            sftp_error_report(s, "%s: read failed", s->path);
+            return -EIO;
+        }
+        if (r == 0) {
+            error_report("%s: read failed (EOF)", s->path);
+            return -EIO;
+        }
+
+        got += r;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static coroutine_fn int ssh_co_read(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                    int64_t sector_num,
+                                    uint8_t *buf, int nb_sectors)
+{
+    BDRVSSHState *s = bs->opaque;
+    int ret;
+
+    qemu_co_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
+    ret = ssh_read(s, sector_num * SECTOR_SIZE, (char *) buf,
+                   nb_sectors * SECTOR_SIZE);
+    qemu_co_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+static int ssh_write(BDRVSSHState *s,
+                     int64_t offset, const char *buf, size_t size)
+{
+    ssize_t r;
+    size_t written;
+
+    /* According to the docs, this just updates a field in the
+     * sftp_handle structure, so there is no network traffic and it
+     * cannot fail.
+     */
+    libssh2_sftp_seek64(s->sftp_handle, offset);
+
+    for (written = 0; written < size; ) {
+    again:
+        r = libssh2_sftp_write(s->sftp_handle, buf + written, size - written);
+
+        if (r == LIBSSH2_ERROR_EAGAIN || r == LIBSSH2_ERROR_TIMEOUT)
+            goto again;
+        if (r < 0) {
+            sftp_error_report(s, "%s: write failed", s->path);
+            return -EIO;
+        }
+
+        written += r;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static coroutine_fn int ssh_co_write(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                     int64_t sector_num,
+                                     const uint8_t *buf, int nb_sectors)
+{
+    BDRVSSHState *s = bs->opaque;
+    int ret;
+
+    qemu_co_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
+    ret = ssh_write(s, sector_num * SECTOR_SIZE, (const char *)buf,
+                    nb_sectors * SECTOR_SIZE);
+
+    qemu_co_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+static int64_t ssh_getlength(BlockDriverState *bs)
+{
+    BDRVSSHState *s = bs->opaque;
+    return (int64_t) s->attrs.filesize;
+}
+
+static BlockDriver bdrv_ssh = {
+    .format_name                  = "ssh",
+    .protocol_name                = "ssh",
+    .instance_size                = sizeof(BDRVSSHState),
+    .bdrv_file_open               = ssh_file_open,
+    .bdrv_close                   = ssh_close,
+    .bdrv_read                    = ssh_co_read,
+    .bdrv_write                   = ssh_co_write,
+    .bdrv_getlength               = ssh_getlength,
+#if 0
+    .bdrv_aio_readv               = ssh_aio_readv,
+    .bdrv_aio_writev              = ssh_aio_writev,
+    .bdrv_aio_flush               = ssh_aio_flush,
+#endif
+};
+
+static void bdrv_ssh_init(void)
+{
+    bdrv_register(&bdrv_ssh);
+}
+
+block_init(bdrv_ssh_init);
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 46a7594..4ea1b39 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ virtio_blk_data_plane=""
 gtk=""
 gtkabi="2.0"
 tpm="no"
+libssh2=""
 
 # parse CC options first
 for opt do
@@ -908,6 +909,10 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --enable-tpm) tpm="yes"
   ;;
+  --disable-libssh2) libssh2="no"
+  ;;
+  --enable-libssh2) libssh2="yes"
+  ;;
   *) echo "ERROR: unknown option $opt"; show_help="yes"
   ;;
   esac
@@ -1164,6 +1169,7 @@ echo "  --disable-glusterfs      disable GlusterFS backend"
 echo "  --enable-gcov            enable test coverage analysis with gcov"
 echo "  --gcov=GCOV              use specified gcov [$gcov_tool]"
 echo "  --enable-tpm             enable TPM support"
+echo "  --enable-libssh2         enable ssh block device support"
 echo ""
 echo "NOTE: The object files are built at the place where configure is launched"
 exit 1
@@ -2328,6 +2334,42 @@ EOF
 fi
 
 ##########################################
+# libssh2 probe
+if test "$libssh2" != "no" ; then
+  cat > $TMPC <<EOF
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <libssh2.h>
+#include <libssh2_sftp.h>
+int main(void) {
+    LIBSSH2_SESSION *session;
+    session = libssh2_session_init ();
+    (void) libssh2_sftp_init (session);
+    return 0;
+}
+EOF
+
+  if $pkg_config libssh2 --modversion >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    libssh2_cflags=`$pkg_config libssh2 --cflags`
+    libssh2_libs=`$pkg_config libssh2 --libs`
+  else
+    libssh2_cflags=
+    libssh2_libs="-lssh2"
+  fi
+
+  if compile_prog "$libssh2_cflags" "$libssh2_libs" ; then
+    libssh2=yes
+    libs_tools="$libssh2_libs $libs_tools"
+    libs_softmmu="$libssh2_libs $libs_softmmu"
+    QEMU_CFLAGS="$QEMU_CFLAGS $libssh2_cflags"
+  else
+    if test "$libssh2" = "yes" ; then
+      feature_not_found "libssh2"
+    fi
+    libssh2=no
+  fi
+fi
+
+##########################################
 # linux-aio probe
 
 if test "$linux_aio" != "no" ; then
@@ -3439,6 +3481,7 @@ echo "virtio-blk-data-plane $virtio_blk_data_plane"
 echo "gcov              $gcov_tool"
 echo "gcov enabled      $gcov"
 echo "TPM support       $tpm"
+echo "libssh2 support   $libssh2"
 
 if test "$sdl_too_old" = "yes"; then
 echo "-> Your SDL version is too old - please upgrade to have SDL support"
@@ -3804,6 +3847,10 @@ if test "$glusterfs" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_GLUSTERFS=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
 
+if test "$libssh2" = "yes" ; then
+  echo "CONFIG_LIBSSH2=y" >> $config_host_mak
+fi
+
 if test "$virtio_blk_data_plane" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
diff --git a/qemu-doc.texi b/qemu-doc.texi
index af84bef..004b2ff 100644
--- a/qemu-doc.texi
+++ b/qemu-doc.texi
@@ -423,6 +423,7 @@ snapshots.
 * disk_images_sheepdog::      Sheepdog disk images
 * disk_images_iscsi::         iSCSI LUNs
 * disk_images_gluster::       GlusterFS disk images
+* disk_images_ssh::           Secure Shell (ssh) disk images
 @end menu
 
 @node disk_images_quickstart
@@ -1038,6 +1039,33 @@ qemu-system-x86_64 -drive file=gluster+unix:///testvol/dir/a.img?socket=/tmp/glu
 qemu-system-x86_64 -drive file=gluster+rdma://1.2.3.4:24007/testvol/a.img
 @end example
 
+@node disk_images_ssh
+@subsection Secure Shell (ssh) disk images
+
+You can access disk images located on a remote ssh server
+by using the ssh protocol:
+@example
+qemu-system-x86_64 -drive file=ssh://[@var{user}@@]@var{server}[:@var{port}]/@var{path}
+@end example
+
+@var{ssh} is the protocol.
+
+@var{user} is the remote user.  If not specified, then the local
+username is tried.
+
+@var{server} specifies the remote ssh server.  Any ssh server can be
+used, but it must implement the sftp-server protocol.  Most Unix/Linux
+systems should work without requiring any extra configuration.
+
+@var{port} is the port number on which sshd is listening.  By default
+the standard ssh port (22) is used.
+
+@var{path} is the path to the disk image.
+
+Authentication must currently be done without requiring a password or
+passphrase.  Set up ssh-agent with authorized keys, or Kerberos or
+similar.
+
 @node pcsys_network
 @section Network emulation
 
