What is Putty
A remote connection to the server allows you to execute any commands on it. With PuTTY, this can be done from a Windows computer, even if the host has a Unix-like system installed.
What is PuTTY and why use it?
PuTTY is a free product for connecting to a server via SSH, Telnet and Rlogin. All of these protocols are used to start a remote session on a computer. The program represents the client side of this session.
In technical terms, PuTTY is a terminal emulator. It emulates (simulates) a terminal – an input/output device for a user that connects to a remote server. Simply put, you start PuTTY on the computer and tell it to connect to the server. PuTTY allows you to enter commands that run on the server side. Everything the machine sends back is displayed in the window. Thus, you can administer the server remotely.
PuTTY is a free program for Windows PCs (it also includes the xterm terminal emulator). You will find it useful if you want to access a server running Unix. Program features include:
- adjusting fonts, colors, and console resolution;
- logging;
- saving authorization keys;
- work through a proxy server;
- file transfer.
The program is lightweight and completely free.
Loading and launching PuTTY
To start using the program, just download it from the official website. Choose the version that corresponds to the size of your processor – 32 or 64. A portable version that does not require installation is also available.
Note that the installation must be performed with administrator rights (or with an administrator account). When you start the installer, a welcome screen is displayed. Just click “Next”, select a folder to install the program and wait for it to finish.
Check that PuTTY is working correctly. When you start the software, you should see a window with the title “PuTTY Configuration”, a menu on the left side of the window and a “Host Name” field on the right side.
How to configure PuTTY correctly
To connect to the server using the SSH protocol, you will need to configure it. You can get them from the company where you bought your hosting. With this data you can give PuTTY the parameters you need and connect to the server. To do this, just follow a few simple steps:
- Enter in the “Host Name (or IP-address)” field the received host name or IP address.
- Enter a value of 22 in the “Port” field.
- In the “Saved Sessions” field, you can give the session a name, and then click “Save”.
- In the menu on the left, go to SSH. On the right side of the window, find the “Preferred SSH protocol version” line. Specify the value 2 only below.
- And the last step is to connect to the remote host. Click “Open” at the bottom of the window.
When you see a black screen with the text Login as, enter your login and wait to connect. If everything was successful, a command line will appear on the screen to work with the server.
Important commands for convenient operation:
- command name -help – information about the command;
- mc – run the file manager;
- ls – show files on the server;
- ls – la – show all files on the server (including hidden ones), their size, date of change, owner and access rights;
- cd directory – go to the directory;
- cd ../ – go back one directory up;
- mv – rename/transfer the file;
- rm – delete the file;
- cp – copy the file;
- chmod – change permissions for a folder or file;
- cat file name – show the contents of the file;
- mkdir – create a folder.
These and other commands are used to manage the server, which you can buy from us at TutHost.
Advantages of Putty
The most important advantages are the following:
- it is easy to set up and more stable in operation;
- flexible settings of the remote node;
- the program supports configuration changes to the remote secure terminal;
- some terminal control sequences, such as the Linux console sequence, which are not supported by xterm, are supported by PuTTY;
- the ability to maintain log files.
It is a handy program with a simple graphical interface.
Disadvantages of Putty
The program also has some disadvantages:
- you can only save the name of the user in the session.
- PuTTY emulator is incompatible with some Cisco networking equipment.
PuTTY is a free product. Despite some disadvantages, it is one of the simplest and most convenient programs to work with the server.
