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Using Putty To SSH To Your Server From Windows

I think it is really important to show you how to use Putty tool to access your server via SSH connection. This is a very basic skill every server admin should know. Since this blog is aimed to helping babies (newbies with no knowledge about Linux and server at all), so I’ll write this simple tutorial as a basic guide every newbie should know. It means you can skip this post if you knew it already.

But first, it is better to know what the Putty is. Being a well-known and most used tool, Putty is basically a client for the SSH, Telnet, rlogin, and raw TCP computing protocols and as a serial console client. Its simplicity makes this tool widely used. The program is originally written for Windows-based computers but then it has been ported to various other operating systems, even on mobile devices running Symbian. The tool is compatible for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and even Windows 8.

Download Putty
You can download Putty here or via direct link here.

Now you have Putty on your computer. Assuming you have a server you wish to manage via SSH port, so here it is the way I use Putty which you can follow..

Step 1.
Download Putty.exe

Step 2.
Double-click it to launch the main interface. It should look like this..

putty

Step 3.
Now enter the Host name of your server obtained from your provider. It can also be the IP address.

Step 4.
Leave the port field as it is (port 22 – default) unless your provider changed it to another port but they should tell you.

Step 5.
Make sure the “SSH” option is checked.

config putty

Step 6.
That’s it then click the “Open” button

Step 7.
Now you’ll see another window open. If it is your first time using Putty to SSH-ing your server, you may notice an alert like this one. Simply hit Yes button.

putty alert

Step 8.
Putty will bring you to login to your server via SSH connection. In this case you may enter your root password.

ssh with putty

Congratulation you are now getting access to your server via SSH. You can try some basic command. In this case I’ll try to see RAM usage in my playground server:

Command to use:

free -m

It will return like this..

free ram

Quick tip:
In Putty, you can use mouse right-click to paste any text.

So you knew Putty and what’s next? I posted 20 top most used and common command syntax to use when SSH-ing a server. Read that post to know all basic Linux commands those are necessary to manage unmanaged server.

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