Can’t specify which fingerprint hash to use

When I try this command it fails:

ssh -o FingerprintHash=sha256 example.com

Error message: command-line: line 0: Bad configuration option: fingerprinthash

Why is this? Has this option been removed from OpenSSH? My ssh client version is OpenSSH_6.6.1p1 Ubuntu-2ubuntu2.10, OpenSSL 1.0.1f 6 Jan 2014.

My intention is to verify the fingerprint from the client’s output with the fingerprint sent to me by the sysadmin, which was in another format (base64-encoded SHA256, I believe).

FingerprintHash option is available since OpenSSH 6.8 only.

Earlier versions always use MD5.

See also SHA256 ssh fingerprint given by the client but only md5 fingerprint known for server.