How to SSH to a Server with a Private Key Using Putty
This article will describe how to connect to your server using ssh and a private key on a windows operating system. The SSH protocol uses encryption to secure the connection between a client and a server. All user authentication, commands, output, and file transfers are encrypted to protect against attacks in the network. A windows operating system does not support SSH natively.
Prerequisites:
You will need to download an ssh client, the most famous and well known ssh client for windows operating system is "putty". Once you download putty from the official site, follow the procedures in order to get connected.
Procedures to install private key in putty and connect to a server:
- Enter the remote server Host Name or IP address under Session.
- Navigate to Connection > SSH > Auth. Click Browse under Authentication parameters / Private key file for authentication.
- Locate the private key file example "private.key" and click "Open".
- Click Open again to log into the remote server with key pair authentication.