Overview
PuTTY is a free software application for Windows 95, 98, XP, Vista, 7 , 8, 8.1 and 10 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.
Requirements
Before you start, youl'll need:
- Your SSH login credentials.
- Be familiar with connecting to your server via SSH. See this articles for details: Connecting to your server via SSH.
Instructions
- Download PuTTY from http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/ or another PuTTY download source. The "putty.exe" download is good for basic SSH.
- 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
- Double-click on the putty.exe program or the desktop shortcut to launch the application.
NOTE:
You may receive a warning that the publisher cannot be verified. If you have downloaded this program from a good source, select Run. While (mt) Media Temple cannot vouch for third-party servers, the link provided above is generally a good source for PuTTY.

- Enter your connection settings:

- Host Name: example.com
- Port: 2084 (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:
login as:Connect with your SSH user of choice.
- Next, enter your password. Please note that you will NOT see your cursor moving, or any characters typed (such as ******), when typing your password. This is a standard PuTTY security feature. Hit enter.
Using keyboard-interactive authentication. Password: - You are now logged into your server with SSH. You should see output like this:
The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software; the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright. Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law. example.com@n11:~$You can begin typing commands at the prompt.