PuTTY is a free and open-source terminal emulator, serial console, and network file transfer application. It supports several network protocols, including SSH, Telnet, rlogin, SCP, and raw socket connection. Originally developed for Windows, PuTTY is now available for various operating systems, including Unix-like systems such as Linux and macOS.
PuTTY is widely used by system administrators, network engineers, and software developers for various tasks, including:
Remote Access: PuTTY allows users to establish secure remote connections to servers and network devices using SSH (Secure Shell) protocol. It provides a command-line interface for accessing and managing remote systems.
Terminal Emulation: PuTTY emulates a terminal, allowing users to interact with remote systems as if they were using a local terminal. It supports various terminal types, including xterm, VT100, and ANSI.
Serial Console Access: PuTTY can be used to establish serial console connections to devices such as routers, switches, and embedded systems via serial ports.
File Transfer: PuTTY includes tools for transferring files between local and remote systems using protocols like SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) and SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol).
Tunneling: PuTTY supports SSH tunneling, allowing users to create secure tunnels for forwarding network traffic between local and remote systems.
PuTTY is lightweight, easy to use, and highly customizable, making it a popular choice for managing remote systems and network devices. It is distributed under an open-source license and is freely available for download and use. Additionally, PuTTY is highly extensible, with support for plugins and additional features through third-party software and add-ons.
To connect to an EC2 instance from Windows using PuTTY, you’ll need to follow these steps:
Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to install PuTTY on your Windows machine.
2. Convert PEM Key to PPK Format (Optional):
If you’re using a PEM key to connect to your EC2 instance, you’ll need to convert it to the PuTTY Private Key (PPK) format. You can do this using the PuTTYgen tool that comes with PuTTY:
Launch PuTTYgen from the Start menu.
Click on the “Load” button and select your PEM key file.
PuTTYgen will automatically detect the key type and load the key.
Click on “Save private key” to save the key in PPK format.
3. Configure PuTTY Session:
Launch PuTTY from the Start menu.
In the PuTTY Configuration window:
Enter the public DNS or IP address of your EC2 instance in the “Host Name (or IP address)” field.
Enter the SSH port number (default is 22).
Select the connection type as “SSH.”
Under the “Connection” category in the left pane:
Expand the “SSH” category.
Click on “Auth.”
Click on the “Browse” button next to “Private key file for authentication” and select your PPK key file (if you converted your PEM key to PPK format).
Optionally, you can save this session configuration by entering a name in the “Saved Sessions” field and clicking the “Save” button.
4. Connect to EC2 Instance:
Click on the “Open” button to start the SSH session.
If this is your first time connecting to the EC2 instance, PuTTY will display a security alert. Click “Yes” to proceed.
PuTTY will open a terminal window and prompt you to log in. Enter the username for your EC2 instance (usually “ec2-user” for Amazon Linux, “ubuntu” for Ubuntu, or “admin” for some Windows instances).
If you’re using SSH key authentication, PuTTY will automatically use the private key you specified earlier for authentication.
5. (Optional) Save Your Session Configuration:
If you want to save the session configuration for future use:
Enter a name in the “Saved Sessions” field.
Click the “Save” button.
Next time you launch PuTTY, you can load this saved session configuration from the list and click “Load” to quickly connect to your EC2 instance.
That’s it! You should now be connected to your EC2 instance from Windows using PuTTY. You can now use the terminal window to execute commands on your EC2 instance as needed.
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