Discussion on:

Use PuTTY as an SSH client on MS Windows

It does the job. Right-click to paste from the Windows clipboard.

I want my X Windows middle-click paste back when working in MS Windows, darnit.

. . . but yeah, it's a nice little tool. It's also in the FreeBSD ports tree if you absolutely must have PuTTY in a Unix environment.

edit: though I personally prefer plain ol' OpenSSH in a terminal emulator

Putty has several applications that can be used on windows for secure communications or to assist in them.

PuTTY (the Telnet and SSH client itself)
PSCP (an SCP client, i.e. command-line secure file copy)
PSFTP (an SFTP client, i.e. general file transfer sessions much like FTP)
PuTTYtel (a Telnet-only client)
Plink (a command-line interface to the PuTTY back ends)
Pageant (an SSH authentication agent for PuTTY, PSCP and Plink)
PuTTYgen (an RSA and DSA key generation utility).


I only use putty and puttygen. I use winscp for ssh file transfers, find that pretty friendly.

What is the license of putty just out of courosity?

Dan

I've seen a few apps that are like Putty for the install, and they become more of a pain than running an installer.
making the "shortcuts" to the executable for the menu then pushing that change to every system where it's needed.
The lack of an entry in the add / remove programs dialog makes finding older versions to update problematical also.

since there are no registry entries, removing it or updaing it are simple, just delete / replace the executable, and remember to delete any shortcuts made if removing it.

"I've seen a few apps that are like Putty for the install, and they become more of a pain than running an installer."

How exactly is a single executable more of a pain than the mess most software installers on the MS Windows platform create? Updating is easy -- just replace the old executable with a new executable.

yup it is easy.
it's in a corporate environment where there is a need for a number of installs, and updates, and shortcut creation that it's a pain in the behind to administer the single executable.

While the installers make a mess, mainly because of the registry, they at least work with what passes for package management in windows.

WinSPC, another freeware product is based on Putty. It makes the use of telnet, SPC, etc. simple for a Windows user and has the drag and drop functionality of Windows.

A not free product is secureCRT, it is not based on Putty.

Both of these products are better than Putty and easier to use.

Yeah, WinSCP (assuming that's what you mean when you type "WinSPC") is a great tool as well. It's based on SSH, though, and not on PuTTY. Whereas PuTTY's primary purpose is to provide a remote shell client, WinSCP's is to provide a file transfer client -- using SSH's SFTP and SCP functionality.

"Both of these products are better than Putty and easier to use."

Really? What's better about them? I'm especially interested in what's "better" about WinSCP, considering WinSCP and PuTTY don't even do the same things.

Wherre secureCRT has everything in one executable, never leave the window to ssh into a shell and then move or retrieve files. Putty requires you to use different applications.

Me personally, I use secureCRT at work and putty at home. I like putty better. But, I think thats more of a familuarity thing then anything else.

What I don't remember about secureCRT is its public/private key workings. For some reasons I want to say it doesn't play nice with openSSL with those. Openssl not liking the keys gened by secureCRT... But, I am unsure of that. Been a very long time.

Dan

WinSPC installs Putty and needs Putty to operate; therefore it is fair to say that WinSPC is based on Putty even though it has SSH capabilities. I will be happy to send screenshots of start menus and program files directories showing Putty is installed. I have never directly installed Putty.

As to being better, it is a matter of opinion. Some people like to dink around to get a job done. I myself like the fact that I can bring up a command shell in either the Norton or Explorer style and visually see exactly what is where. When I need to move a file or a group of files, I like the idea that I can highlight them and then drag and drop. If I have to traverse directories I can just click on the directory and go to it. Again it is a matter of choice because you can do the same with a command line.

VanDikes SecureCRT is another story, it does not have a GUI, it is command line driven. It uses the native command set of the computer you are connecting to rather than the Windows command set. It is more of a remote client that connects natively. If used in conjunction with VNC it is extremely powerful. But even without VNC you have the command set of the remote machine at your disposal.

So the matter is that it is personal preference. Mine is that both WinSPC and SecureCRT are better and easier to use than Putty.

I just opened a command window in my winscp, and at the very top it states.

Warning: DO NOT execute commands that require user input.

For most, I agree. This would not be an issue... But, it is a limitation.

Dan

Like most things, this can be worked around. I have moved away from MS solutions to open source. When I was an MS boy, I worked around the limitations by installing Cygwin and linking it to my command consoles path. When Putty, which is primarily command line driven, received a command line response, the appropriate handlers were called from Cygwin. I had few problems. Others experiences will vary according to their skill, determination, and imagination.

I was using OpenSSH previous to getting putty and winscp installed. I keep it on the flashdrive still though mostly because free space isn't an issue rather than for a specific use. If one wanted to go purely terminal based and stick with what's likely on the *nix side of the copper, OpenSSH is worth a look.

Figured I'd throw that into the mix just for fun.

To be truthfull, I hd not heard of it. So, I appriceate the just for fun.

lol

dan

You haven't heard of OpenSSH . . . ? How did that happen?

And I truthfully never heard of it on windows. Ok, so I'm being stupid... It happens... ;o).

Dan

"
OpenSSH for Windows v3.8.1p1-1: Readme
Michael Johnson
youngmug@users.sourceforge.net

Updated 9 July 2004
"

http://sshwindows.sourceforge.net/

OpenSSH win32 build; terminalled, for his/her pleasure. (now to go check for a newer update)

No, I think he's talking about OpenSSH for MS Windows. I just thought you were talking about OpenSSH in general, and not specifically for MS Windows, that was new to you.

Then again, I stumbled across it only after first installing the free VMware Server beta when I needed to connect to them from my host OS. Replacing both ftp and telnet with one simple command and a single open port blew me away. I've not yet had a specific reason to setup tunneling though I am looking at using certs versus passwords only now finally.

In this particular thread, I went the other way and figured that "for Windows" would be the default since the other apps discussed where windows specific.

(I should really do some man in the middles between my VM's to fully understand that fun too)

I don't like passwords, period. I use public/private keys for ssh where ever I can. I have some control panels(webmin) on my one machine that I would truly like to set up so that a person with a cert could get through. It's ssl already... But, only for password entry. But, that control panel... My control panel, let me be more specific. The one that has access to everything... I would like to lock that down harder. I would like to only be allowed access with a private certificate.

I've looked at it, but never made the leap yet. I'm unsure how I would do it where say... I let someone through webmin for dns on their domain(password login via ssl)... Which I can do where they only have access to that... But my login, which gives me access to everything... A cert only would be truly nice. Hmmmmmmm... I never gave usermin a spin, I wonder if I can set that up with a different sub domain... Crap, I can't do that.... My paid ssl is only good for 1 subdomain... And I paid 2 years on it.. lol

Damn it Neon, I always spin off on these little ventures when ever I'm in a security thread with you.

Dan
[Edited for] Spell check, and to apologize for wandering off topic.

.. and happily, I often learn something.

In my own network, an ideal situation admittedly, I usually run a sniffer while testing any new protocols in use. Except for public http server and the later mentioned pops issue and as little samba as I can get away with, all traffic within my router is encrypted. The same goes for the outside networks in my care as much as possible; even I have to allow http traffic from my webserver but not too anything requiring uname/passwd.

I'll be mucking with ssh by cert rather than password just as soon as I get my personal mail server functioning with it's ssl certs. I can't stand when one of my toys is broken and only having unencrypted pop access too my mail server is a broken toy. Mandriva 2007.1 setup clean by simply adding the apropriate mail related packages. My own mail server is using 2008.0 and damned if "uprmi imap" didn't go in clean on the first try.. excluding the ssl certs it seems. Port 110; perfect. Port 995; I'm doing some learning.

Too get back on topic, I generate certs for my user accounts as standard practice and with the joy of keychain and ssh-keygen. The only bit I haven't take the ten minutes to read how to setup is placing that cert in the remote server's allowed list. The cert is verified by password at login so the user, me, is still being authenticated. It's just the last step of actuallying using the cert instead of passwords that I haven't taken.

My priorities have kept me focusing on other jobs for the webserver and networks in my care. Like most things though, I'll do it then wonder why I didn't sooner and it'll be habitual best practice until something better replaces it.

Encase anyone is curious, Mandriva is fine for my home with no critical up time requirements. The system outside my home is using Mandriva while the local admin, aka small business owner, becomes more comfortable with a *nix based webserver. Debian or BSD are currently on deck as replacement platforms if Mandriva displays technical reasons against continued use (including the local admin's comfort level).

(update): under a minute to read the first hit on google and copy the .pem from my apache's ssl folder to /etc/ssl/imapd/ipop3sd.pem.. bah.. I knew it w as going to be a "WTF, that was easy" moment.

I've found Putty and WinSCP indispensable and always keep the portableapps versions on my flashdrive. Putty does my SSH while WinSCP covers my SCP and SFTP needs perfectly. The only function I miss when working through a win32/64 local platform is being able to run remote X programs with them displaying locally.

Now if only I could get portablePutty and portableCigwin working together they way the claim too, then I could even have my local X displays of remote GUI apps.

Have you had any luck using PuTTY in a batch file or script that is launched by Windows Scheduler? For me it works perfectly when run from a command line but when launched by Windows Scheduler it "hangs" and does not complete.