SSH Keying Through PuTTY (Windows) Print

Installing & Using PuTTY in Windows

First you will need to download both PuTTY and PuTTYGen.

Configuring PuTTY

1. Run PuTTY
2. In the "Host Name" field, enter your domain or server IP address.
3. For "Connection>Data", enter the username you will connect with. This will probably be your root account or cPanel account.
4. Click "Session" at the top left of the window. Enter a name to identify your settings.
5. Click "Save".

Connecting to the Server

1. In PuTTY, click "Open".
2. When it warns you of the possible security breach, click "Yes".
3. You will now be at the bash prompt for your server.

Generating an SSH Key

1. Start PuTTYGen.
2. Select "SSH-2 RSA" under type of key to generate.
3. Verify that bits are set to 1024.
4. Click "Generate", and move your cursor around the blank space. This motion is used to generate the key.
5. Set the key comment, which is not very important, and the password, which is important.
6. Click "Save Public Key". Note where the file is saved.
7. Click "Save Private Key". Note where the file is saved.

Placing Keys On The Server

1. Copy the data inside the PuTTY window under "Public Key" to paste into the SSH Authorized keys file.
2. Run the following commands in PuTTY:
   mkdir ~/.ssh
   chmod 700 ~/.ssh
   nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
3. Right click in the window to paste the key you copied earlier. Make sure it's all on one line, and not broken up into multiple lines.
4. Press "ctrl"+"x", then "Y", then hit enter.
5. Enter this command:
   chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Configuring the SSH Keys

1. Close and re-open PuTTY.
2. Click the profile you made and saved earlier, and then click "Load".
3. Click "SSH>Auth".
4. Click "Browse". Find the private key that you saved in step 7 of "Generating an SSH Key".
5. Go back to sessions, and click "Save".

Test

Re-open PuTTY. It should make the connection to your server and send the SSH key automatically.