PuTTY is an SSH client for windows that's open source. PuTTY allows you to connect securely to a remote server from your Windows desktop.
If you don't have PuTTY installed visit the PuTTY website to download a Windows installer. Run PuTTY once installed.
Configuration
The first screen you will see is the PuTTY Configuration screen.
PuTTY Configuration
While PuTTY allows you to tweak and customize a large number of settings, often the Host Name (or IP address) and Port fields are all that need to be filled in to connect to a server.
In the Host Name (or IP address) field, put the username you wish to connect with, an '@', and then the host name or IP address of the server you wish to connect with.
If you have a shared or reseller package, your username is going to be the same as your cPanel username.
If you have a VPS or dedicated server, your username is going to be root.
The Port field is likely already set to the default SSH port '22'. You will likely need to change this field to another port based on your package:
Shared or Reseller: 1291
VPS: 1891
Dedicated Server: 1157
If you have a VPS or dedicated server package and have changed your SSH port after it was deployed, you will need to set this field to whatever your SSH port is.
Shared and reseller users do not have shell access enabled by default. Please contact our Support team, and request Jailed Shell Access if you wish to connect to the server using SSH.
Once both the Host Name (or IP address) and Port fields are filled out, click Open to connect to the server.
PuTTY will ask you to confirm that you trust the server the first time you attempt to connect. Selecting Yes will save in the server's identity so PuTTY does not ask this question again, and selecting No will not save the server's identity and PuTTY will ask if you trust the server when you attempt to connect again. Selecting Cancel will abort the connection altogether.
The server will have you verify identity by entering in your password.
If you connected using your cPanel username, this password will the password to your cPanel account.
If you connected as root or as another Linux user, the password will be the server's root password or the user's password respectively.
It is important to be aware that characters will not appear on the screen as you type. Press the Enter key to submit the password.
If everything has been done correctly, you're now connected to the server!
Password authentication as root may be disabled by default on VPS and dedicated server packages. Please contact our Support team, and ask that password authentication for root be enabled if you run into issues, or generate SSH Keys for more secure authentication.
SSH Key Authentication
PuTTY can be configured to use SSH Keys as well. SSH Keys are a more secure, and often more convenient form of authentication. Please see our SSH Keys article for information on generating SSH key pairs for PuTTY, and uploading them to your server. The following steps have been written assuming PuTTYgen has been used to generate an SSH key pair, and that the public key has been uploaded to your server.
Click the + icon next to SSH in the left-hand panel on the PuTTY Configuration screen to expand the list.
Click Auth to view the SSH authentication preferences.
Click Browse under Authentication parameters to select a private key file (it will have the .ppk extension) from your local machine to authenticate with.
After selecting a private key, you are now ready to authenticate using SSH keys.
Saving Configurations
PuTTY allows you to save the configuration you use to connect to a server so you don't have to type all the information in each time as a Session.
After you've filled out all the appropriate fields, and are ready to connect, type in a name for your session in the text box under Saved Sessions, and click Save. The session you just created will appear in the list below the text box under Default Settings.
