[Beginners] How To Log Into a VPS From Windows Computer Using PuTTY

Lawrence

Introduction

After you have active server with operating system installed on it, your next step is to make a secure remote connection from your local computer to your server. This article describes how to use a client called PuTTY to form an Secure Shell (SSH) connection from a computer running a Microsoft Windows OS to a Linux server.

SSH (Secure Shell) is a network protocol used for secure data communication between a server and a client (You) to perform (for example: command-line login and authentication, remote command execution, and even data transfer). So in order to keep the communication between you and a server secure there are programs that implement SSH protocols mainly by using strong encryption methods to help you achieve that.


1. Downloading and Installation

- PuTTY is a free software application for Microsoft Windows operating systems which can be used to make an SSH connection to your server. You can download the application at

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

- Save the download to your C:\WINDOWS folder.
- If you want to make a link to PuTTY on your desktop:
-- Open the C:\WINDOWS folder in Windows Explorer.
-- Right click on the putty.exe file and select Send To > Desktop


2. Configurations

- Double-click on the putty.exe program or the desktop shortcut to launch the application.
- Enter your connection settings:
-- Host Name: enter IP of your server
-- Port: 22 (leave as default)
-- Connection Type: SSH (leave as default)

- Click "Open" to start the SSH session.
- If this is your first time connecting to the server from this computer, you will see the following output. Accept the connection by clicking "Yes".

- Once the SSH Connection is open, you should see a terminal prompt asking for your username. Your server's root username is "root".
- Next, enter your password. You can find it in Clients Area. Please note that you will NOT see your cursor moving, or any characters typed, when typing your password. This is a standard PuTTY security feature. After you typed it in hit enter.
- Congratulations! You are now logged into your server with SSH.


Conclusion

Learning is a slow and progressive process and I hope that you have grasped the basic concepts behind remote connection to a server.


Alternatives

Also you can check and try alternatives to PuTTY:

http://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/
http://kitty.9bis.net/
http://www.mremoteng.org/download
http://www.netsarang.com/products/xsh_overview.html
http://www.bitvise.com/ssh-client-download
https://winscp.net/eng/download.php