May 30, 2020
3min Read
Linas L.
SSH, or Secure Shell, is a secure protocol for connecting to a remote server. To establish an SSH connection, you will need an SSH client app like PuTTY.
In this guide, you will learn how to use PuTTY SSH terminal to connect to your hosting account or to a VPS server. That way, you can access and manage your remote machine by executing various commands.
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PuTTY is most commonly used on Windows, however, it is also available on Linux and Mac. Here is how you can get the putty download on different operating systems.
Download the latest version of PuTTY SSH from the official website. After that, install it on your computer. It’s as simple as that.
Most people use the preinstalled OpenSSH on Linux, however, PuTTY on Linux is used more for debugging, connecting to serial ports, and to raw sockets.
On Debian, use the following command:
sudo aptitude install putty
Followed by the tools installation command:
sudo aptitude install putty-tools
Like Linux, the macOS comes with a command-line SSH client already installed. But to download PuTTY, open the terminal window and use the commands below.
To install PuTTY for mac:
brew install putty (or) port install putty
Next, you will need a bit of information before you can begin using PuTTY. You will need:
If you are Hostinger user, there are two ways to find this information, depending on your hosting plan:
Congratulations! You have successfully connected to your account using the PuTTY SSH client. You can list all available SSH commands by executing help via the terminal.
PuTTYgen is a tool that creates public and private key pairs. PuTTY stores these key authentications in its .ppk format files. With Windows, you will use the PuTTYgen.exe graphical tool, while with Linux you will use the command line.
To begin, locate PuTTY and open PuTTYgen.
To create a new key pair, click the Generate button near the bottom and begin to move your mouse around within the window. Continue moving your mouse until the green progress bar is full.
After it is complete, your public key will appear in the window.
It is recommended to use a passphrase as well as saving your private key.
To grant access to an account, you will need to add the new public key to the file named ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.
First, install the public key. Then, log into your server and locate the authorized_keys file. Edit the file and insert the new public key into the file. Save the file and test to see if the login works.
We hope this article helps you to use the PuTTY client to connect to your hosting account. If you want to learn more about SSH, we have several articles that can help you out:
Feel free to comment if you have any questions.
July 12 2020
I don't have access to SSH as you mentioned under advanced section, is there any special permissions needed for accessing files via putty? for some reason I was unable to compress files under file manager section whatever I do its cutting me off and throwing me errors. How can I access file manager via SSH ?
August 31 2020
I need to Create dnsrecords A via SSH terminal using PuTTY, how can I get that done?
Replied on November 11 2020
Hey Michael. I am not sure which platform are you using (which OS, which control panel, what kind of server are you using, if its Shared, VPS etc), but here is an example guide from plesk's support page, about Plesk in this case. You can check something similar depending on the OS/Control Panel that you are using! :)
September 16 2020
Hi, I have accessed the ssh, somehow. But now I am getting "there were 7 failed login attempts since the last successful login" error. I got this error when I use Command Prompt to connect SSH. But when I am using putty. It closed the window. Please help me with this
Replied on November 11 2020
Hey there Jayant. It's hard to check this over a comment section, but please don't hesitate to message our Customer Success team, which will gladly guide you through the process.
Tomislav T.
Replied on July 15 2020
Hey there Yasta :) All of our plans except Single Shared Hosting have SSH access. I am not sure which one are you using, so the process may be a bit different on VPS vs Shared/Cloud Hosting, but in general you need to first enable the SSH access which you can find on your dashboard. Once you enable it - you will be able to connect via SSH :)