PuTTY

The PuTTY program is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 and Unix (i.e. Linux/AIX/etc.) platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator. PuTTY allows you to remotely connect to systems to access a terminal session just as if the session were opened on that machine.

With this application you can do the following:

Opposed to a ssh or telnet session, PuTTY can be easily configured to mimic a unique remote host's keyboard and other settings. Connect from Windows Clients to Remote Unix/Linux hosts. Connect to systems with popular protocols including Secure Shel (ssh) and Telent.

Manage systems using it's native command line tools Save profiles for frequently accessed systems.

Basic Usage

Basic Usage

(For a larger image, click on the following (click here))

You can access this application in the following way(s):

• Computer ▸ More Applications ▸ Accessories section ▸ PuTTY
• From the command line: 'putty &'

SSH, Telnet and Rlogin Protocols

SSH, Telnet and Rlogin with PuTTY

If you already know what SSH, Telnet and Rlogin are, skip on to the next section. SSH, Telnet and Rlogin are three ways of doing the same thing - logging in to a computer from another computer, over the network.

Basics

Multi-user operating systems, such as Linux/AIX (Unix) and VMS, usually present a command-line interface to the user, much like the `Command Prompt' or `MS-DOS Prompt' in Windows. The system prints a prompt, and you type commands to manage/use the system. However, using this type of interface, there is no need for you to be sitting at the same machine you are typing commands to. The commands,and responses, can be sent over a network, so you can sit at one computer and give commands to another one, or even to more than one.

Protocols
SSH, Telnet and Rlogin are network protocols that allow you to do remotely connect. On the computer you sit at, you run a client, which makes a network connection to the other computer (the server).

• You might want to use SSH, Telnet or Rlogin if:
  • You have an account on a Unix or VMS system which you want to be able to access from somewhere else. For example, you want telnet into an AIX Workstation or SSH into Linux box often to administrate or use remotely in some other way.
  • Your Internet Service Provider provides you with a login account on a web server. (This might also be known as a shell account. A shell is the program that runs on the server and interpretsyour commands for you.)

• You probably do not want to use SSH, Telnet or Rlogin if:
  • You only use Windows. Windows computers have their own ways of networking between themselves, and unless you are doing something fairly unusual, you will not need to use any of these remote login protocols.

Putty
PuTTY is the client software which can help you do this. This can also be accomplished from your command line terminal on either Windows or Linux machines but the advantage of PuTTY is that it can be configured to work better for each individual system. For instance, issuing a Telent command from Windows to connect to an AIX Workstation will work, but only for basic function. PuTTY can be customized to make this connection work better.

PuTTY Session Management

PuTTY Session Management

Creating a new session

1. When you start PuTTY, you will see a dialog box. This dialog box allows you to control everything PuTTY can do. You don't usually need to change most of the configuration options. To start the simplest kind of session, all you need to do is to enter a few basic parameters.
2. In the 'Host Name' box, enter the Internet host name of the server you want to connect to. You should have been told this by the provider of your login account. Note, the port number will change to match the selected protocol (i.e. 23 for telnet, 22 for ssh, 513 for rlogin, etc.)
3. Now select a login protocol to use, from the 'Connection type' buttons. For a login session, you should select Telnet, Rlogin or SSH.
   • SSH is ideal for modern Unix hosts, Linux, etc.
   • Telnet is insecure, many times available on legacy hosts and AIX.
   • Serial and Raw connections - rarely used for local serial connections or debugging Internet services
4. Once you have filled in the 'Host Name', 'Protocol', and possibly 'Port' settings, you are ready to connect.
5. Press the 'Open' button at the bottom of the dialog box, and PuTTY will begin trying to connect you to the server.
   

Saving a new session

1. Start the Putty Client
2. Create a new session, before connecting:
3. Optionally you can save your session by filling in the 'Saved Sessions' text box with a memorable name for that host.
4. Then click on the 'Save' icon. Note, the PuTTY profile and user sessions are saved under the $HOME directory under /home//.putty . You can backup this folder to save/migrate your sessions.
   

Loading a saved session

1. Start the Putty client and
2. To load a previously saved session, click on the session name of choice listed below the session text box.
3. Once highlighted, select the 'Load' icon.
4. Press the 'Open' button at the bottom of the dialog box, and PuTTY will begin trying to connect you to the server.
   

Deleting a saved session

1. Start the Putty client and
2. click on the session name of choice listed below the session text box.
3. Once highlighted, select the 'Delete' icon to remote the profile. Note, your PuTTY profile and user sessions are saved under the $HOME directory under /home//.putty . You can backup this folder to save your sessions or delete it to re-initialize the putty client.
   

System Session Examples

System Session Examples

The following provides a rough estimate of what maybe required to alter a session to work at it's best over putty:

Session configuration:	AIX
Session type:	Telnet
Special settings/keys:	Setting the backspace key to 'Control-H' as specified in the Terminal-Keyboard configuration.
AIX .profile alterations:	set -o vi
Session configuration:	Linux
Session type:	ssh (secure shell)
Special settings/keys:	N/A
Linux .bash_profile alterations:	N/A

Further Information

Further Reading and Information

For more information regarding PuTTY, please refer to the following internal/external website(s):

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/