Logging in via Putty

This article looks at using PuTTY from a Windows OS so you can securely connect to your Slice with minimal hassle.

It does involve the installation (onto Windows) of PuTTY but it is a quick and seamless affair.

Windows Versions

For the installation and screenshots shown below, I used Windows XP, Service Pack 2. Different versions of Windows, such as one of the dozen or so Vistas, may have slightly different screens.

Download and install

Firstly, we need to download PuTTY from their website.

Once done, click on the downloaded putty.exe:

Configure

The default port for SSH is 22 and is already set in the window. However, for this example I'm going to use the following configuration, as per the setup articles:

SSH port:      30000
username:     onion
IP address:    123.45.67.890

In the Host Name enter the IP address of your Slice and change the Port to 30000 (if you have not already configured your slice, leave this at the default of 22).

Ensure the Connection Type is set to SSH. You will also notice that I have saved this configurations as 'SSH VPS' - feel free to save it to whatever name you want: it simply saves time next time you use Putty. You can have a different name for each of your Slices:

You can also enable SSH compression under Connection -> SSH -> Enable compression.

Keyboard settings

One further setting is in the Terminal -> Keyboard settings: ensure the Backspace Key is set to Control-H:

Once you are ready, go back to 'Session' and click 'Load'. This will start the secure connection to your VPS.

Accept key

If this is the first time you have used Putty to SSH into your VPS, a warning similar to the one below will be shown:

Providing you are sure you have entered the correct details (IP address, etc) then click 'yes'. Subsequent connections will not show this warning.

Username and password

Once you have accepted the warning, the terminal will ask for your username and password:

Ben noted you can set your username under Connection -> Data -> Auto-login username

Simply enter the requested details and you will be securely logged into your VPS.

PickledOnion

Article Comments:

Ben commented Thu Sep 06 15:56:01 UTC 2007 ago:

I recommend also setting the following options when using Putty...

@Connection > Data> Auto-login username@ (set to your remote SSH login)
@Connection > SSH > Enable compression@

PickledOnion commented Thu Sep 06 16:08:34 UTC 2007 ago:

Ben,

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll add a note to make sure your comment is seen.

PickledOnion.

Chris commented Sat Nov 17 21:54:51 UTC 2007 ago:

It's worth knowing that Putty is also available as a 'portable app' that can be run straight straight off a USB key without leaving your preferences in the registry of the machine your using. Very handy if your not able to get to your own machine.

abenamer commented Sun Dec 30 07:24:57 UTC 2007 ago:

Some further notes:

Please go to:

http://www.andremolnar.com/howto_setupsshkeyswithputtyandnotgetserverrefusedour_key

if you want to learn how to make SSH keys in Slicehost that will work properly in Windows. Basically, pickledonion has the process backwards but god bless him for trying to accomodate us Wintel users. You have to gen the key on slicehost, copy it to your local box using WinSCP, convert them into keys that Putty understands, import them into Putty and pageant (putty's auth tool) and THEN you can get seamless auth into slicehost. It's almost worth getting a Mac I tell ya.

abenamer commented Sun Dec 30 07:27:47 UTC 2007 ago:

Let me try that again...

Some further notes:

Please go here

Anatoly commented Thu Jan 03 20:23:03 UTC 2008 ago:

2abenamer: Public key could be generated on Windows machine. Just follow instructions in section 8.2.10 of PuTTY help file. The problem with saving file from PuTTY and than copying with SCP on slice server is that OpenSSH requires public key to be placed in one line, which is not so when key is saved by PuTTY. PuTTY authors recommend copying key from PuTTYGen GUI and pasting it to authorized_keys file opened in a text editor in opened session of SSH. That worked for me.

Hayden commented Sun May 04 21:52:12 UTC 2008 ago:

PickledOnion: I'm finding the xterm emulation in Putty is a bit ropey. Typing (say) 'man ls' will cause the window title of the putty session to change, and the man text wraps oddly. It's putty that's broken here - CRT 3.1 works quite well.