Connect to your Linux instance from Windows with PuTTY - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud

Connect to your Linux instance from Windows with PuTTY

If you're running Windows Server 2019 or later, we recommend using OpenSSH, which is an open source connectivity tool for remote login with the SSH protocol. For steps to connect to a Linux instance from Windows using OpenSSH, see Connect to your Linux instance from Windows with OpenSSH.

The following instructions explain how to connect to your instance using PuTTY, a free SSH client for Windows. If you receive an error while attempting to connect to your instance, see Troubleshoot connecting to your instance.

Prerequisites

Before you connect to your Linux instance using PuTTY, complete the following prerequisites.

Verify that the instance is ready

After you launch an instance, it can take a few minutes for the instance to be ready so that you can connect to it. Check that your instance has passed its status checks. You can view this information in the Status check column on the Instances page.

Verify the general prerequisites for connecting to your instance

To find the public DNS name or IP address of your instance and the username that you should use to connect to your instance, see Get information about your instance.

Install PuTTY on your local computer

Download and install PuTTY from the PuTTY download page. If you already have an earlier version of PuTTY installed, we recommend that you download the latest version. Be sure to install the entire suite.

Convert your private .pem key to .ppk using PuTTYgen

For the key pair that you specified when you launched the instance, if you chose to create the private key in the .pem format, you must convert it to a .ppk file for use with PuTTY. Locate the private .pem file, and then follow the steps in the next section.

Convert your private key using PuTTYgen

PuTTY does not natively support the PEM format for SSH keys. PuTTY provides a tool named PuTTYgen, which converts PEM keys to the required PPK format for PuTTY. You must convert your private key (.pem file) into this format (.ppk file) as follows in order to connect to your instance using PuTTY.

To convert your private .pem key to .ppk
  1. From the Start menu, choose All Programs, PuTTY, PuTTYgen.

  2. Under Type of key to generate, choose RSA. If your version of PuTTYgen does not include this option, choose SSH-2 RSA.

    
							RSA key in PuTTYgen.
  3. Choose Load. By default, PuTTYgen displays only files with the extension .ppk. To locate your .pem file, choose the option to display files of all types.

    
							Select all file types.
  4. Select your .pem file for the key pair that you specified when you launched your instance and choose Open. PuTTYgen displays a notice that the .pem file was successfully imported. Choose OK.

  5. To save the key in the format that PuTTY can use, choose Save private key. PuTTYgen displays a warning about saving the key without a passphrase. Choose Yes.

    Note

    A passphrase on a private key is an extra layer of protection. Even if your private key is discovered, it can't be used without the passphrase. The downside to using a passphrase is that it makes automation harder because human intervention is needed to log on to an instance, or to copy files to an instance.

  6. Specify the same name for the key that you used for the key pair (for example, key-pair-name) and choose Save. PuTTY automatically adds the .ppk file extension.

Your private key is now in the correct format for use with PuTTY. You can now connect to your instance using PuTTY's SSH client.

Connect to your Linux instance

Use the following procedure to connect to your Linux instance using PuTTY. You need the .ppk file that you created for your private key. For more information, see Convert your private key using PuTTYgen in the preceding section. If you receive an error while attempting to connect to your instance, see Troubleshoot connecting to your instance.

Last tested version of PuTTY: .78

To connect to your instance using PuTTY
  1. Start PuTTY (from the Start menu, search for PuTTY and then choose Open).

  2. In the Category pane, choose Session and complete the following fields:

    1. In the Host Name box, do one of the following:

      • (Public DNS) To connect using your instance's public DNS name, enter instance-user-name@instance-public-dns-name.

      • (IPv6) Alternatively, if your instance has an IPv6 address, to connect using your instance's IPv6 address, enter instance-user-name@instance-IPv6-address.

      For information about how to get the username for your instance, and the public DNS name or IPv6 address of your instance, see Get information about your instance.

    2. Ensure that the Port value is 22.

    3. Under Connection type, select SSH.

    
							PuTTY configuration - Session.
  3. (Optional) You can configure PuTTY to automatically send 'keepalive' data at regular intervals to keep the session active. This is useful to avoid disconnecting from your instance due to session inactivity. In the Category pane, choose Connection, and then enter the required interval in Seconds between keepalives. For example, if your session disconnects after 10 minutes of inactivity, enter 180 to configure PuTTY to send keepalive data every 3 minutes.

  4. In the Category pane, expand Connection, SSH, and Auth. Choose Credentials.

  5. Next to Private key file for authentication, choose Browse. In the Select private key file dialog box, select the .ppk file that you generated for your key pair. You can either double-click the file or choose Open in the Select private key file dialog box.

  6. (Optional) If you plan to connect to this instance again after this session, you can save the session information for future use. In the Category pane, choose Session. Enter a name for the session in Saved Sessions, and then choose Save.

  7. To connect to the instance, choose Open.

  8. If this is the first time you have connected to this instance, PuTTY displays a security alert dialog box that asks whether you trust the host to which you are connecting.

    1. (Optional) Verify that the fingerprint in the security alert dialog box matches the fingerprint that you previously obtained in (Optional) Get the instance fingerprint. If these fingerprints don't match, someone might be attempting a "man-in-the-middle" attack. If they match, continue to the next step.

    2. Choose Accept. A window opens and you are connected to your instance.

      Note

      If you specified a passphrase when you converted your private key to the PuTTY format, you must provide that passphrase when you log in to the instance.

If you receive an error while attempting to connect to your instance, see Troubleshoot connecting to your instance.

Transfer files to your Linux instance using the PuTTY Secure Copy client

The PuTTY Secure Copy client (PSCP) is a command line tool that you can use to transfer files between your Windows computer and your Linux instance. If you prefer a graphical user interface (GUI), you can use an open source GUI tool named WinSCP. For more information, see Transfer files to your Linux instance using WinSCP.

To use PSCP, you need the private key you generated in Convert your private key using PuTTYgen. You also need the public DNS name of your Linux instance, or the IPv6 address if your instance has one.

The following example transfers the file Sample_file.txt from the C:\ drive on a Windows computer to the instance-user-name home directory on an Amazon Linux instance. To transfer a file, use one of the following commands.

  • (Public DNS) To transfer a file using your instance's public DNS name, enter the following command.

    pscp -i C:\path\my-key-pair.ppk C:\path\Sample_file.txt instance-user-name@instance-public-dns-name:/home/instance-user-name/Sample_file.txt
  • (IPv6) Alternatively, if your instance has an IPv6 address, to transfer a file using your instance's IPv6 address, enter the following command. The IPv6 address must be enclosed in square brackets ([ ]).

    pscp -i C:\path\my-key-pair.ppk C:\path\Sample_file.txt instance-user-name@[instance-IPv6-address]:/home/instance-user-name/Sample_file.txt

Transfer files to your Linux instance using WinSCP

WinSCP is a GUI-based file manager for Windows that you can use to upload and transfer files to a remote computer using the SFTP, SCP, FTP, and FTPS protocols. With WinSCP, you can drag and drop files from your Windows computer to your Linux instance or synchronize entire directory structures between the two systems.

Requirements
  • You must have the private key that you generated in Convert your private key using PuTTYgen.

  • You must have the public DNS name of your Linux instance.

  • Your Linux instance must have scp installed. For some operating systems, you install the openssh-clients package. For others, such as the Amazon ECS-optimized AMI, you install the scp package. Check the documentation for your Linux distribution.

To connect to your instance using WinSCP
  1. Download and install WinSCP from http://winscp.net/eng/download.php. For most users, the default installation options are OK.

  2. Start WinSCP.

  3. At the WinSCP login screen, for Host name, enter one of the following:

    • (Public DNS or IPv4 address) To log in using your instance's public DNS name or public IPv4 address, enter the public DNS name or public IPv4 address for your instance.

    • (IPv6) Alternatively, if your instance has an IPv6 address, to log in using your instance's IPv6 address, enter the IPv6 address for your instance.

  4. For User name, enter the default username for your AMI.

    • For AL2023, Amazon Linux 2, or the Amazon Linux AMI, the user name is ec2-user.

    • For a CentOS AMI, the user name is centos or ec2-user.

    • For a Debian AMI, the user name is admin.

    • For a Fedora AMI, the user name is fedora or ec2-user.

    • For a RHEL AMI, the user name is ec2-user or root.

    • For a SUSE AMI, the user name is ec2-user or root.

    • For an Ubuntu AMI, the user name is ubuntu.

    • For an Oracle AMI, the user name is ec2-user.

    • For a Bitnami AMI, the user name is bitnami.

    Note

    To find the default user name for other Linux distributions, check with the AMI provider.

  5. Specify the private key file for your instance.

    1. Choose the Advanced... button.

    2. Under SSH, choose Authentication.

    3. Specify the path for your private key file, or choose the ... button to browse to the key pair file.

    4. Choose OK.

    Here is a screenshot from WinSCP version 6.1:

    
							WinSCP Advanced screen.

    WinSCP requires a PuTTY private key file (.ppk). You can convert a .pem security key file to the .ppk format using PuTTYgen. For more information, see Convert your private key using PuTTYgen.

  6. (Optional) In the left panel, choose Directories. For Remote directory, enter the path for the directory to which to add files. To open the advanced site settings for newer versions of WinSCP, choose Advanced. To find the Remote directory setting, under Environment, choose Directories.

  7. Choose Login. To add the host fingerprint to the host cache, choose Yes.

    
							WinSCP screen.
  8. After the connection is established, in the connection window your Linux instance is on the right and your local machine is on the left. You can drag and drop files between the remote file system and your local machine. For more information on WinSCP, see the project documentation at http://winscp.net/eng/docs/start.

    If you receive an error that you cannot run SCP to start the transfer, verify that you installed scp on the Linux instance.