PuTTY Basics

PuTTY is a free and open-source terminal emulator, very popular as a SSH client; used primarily by Windows users.

SSH Connection

• Open PuTTY
• Select Session
• Enter the username@hostname or just the remote hostname or IP address at Host Name. Example:

admin@192.168.1.2

• Connection: SSH
• Port: 22
• (Optional) Name your session in Saved Session field and click Save
• Click Open

DISCLAIMER: You may need to generate/add a private key for authentication.

Add a private key for authentication

• Connections
  • SSH
  • Auth
• Browse and select the private key for authentication. It should be a .ppk file.

Create a private key with PuTTYGen

On Windows:

• Go to Windows Start menu
  • All Programs
  • PuTTY
    • PuTTYgen
• Parameters:
  • Type of key: RSA
  • Number of bits in a generated key: 2048
• Generate
• Specify a passphrase for the key
• Save private key

On Linux:

puttygen -t rsa -b 2048 -C "user@host" -o keyfile.ppk

Check the PuTTYGen manual for more details.

Convert an Amazon .pem key to PuTTY .ppk key

On Windows:

• Go to Windows Start menu
  • All Programs
  • PuTTY
    • PuTTYgen
• Parameters:
  • Type of key: RSA
  • Number of bits in a generated key: 2048
• Load
• Select your .pem file for the key pair
• Open
• Save private key

On Linux:

puttygen keyfile.pem -O private -o keyfile.ppk

Check the Amazon Docs for more details.

More about PuTTY and PuTTYGen can be found at the manual page.