Skip to content

Remove recommendation to use PuTTY from log in guide #923

@aowen-uwmad

Description

@aowen-uwmad

### Option 2: Log in with PuTTY, an SSH program for Windows
There are multiple programs to connect to remote servers for Windows. We recommend "PuTTy", which can be downloaded [here](https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html).
1. To log in, run the PuTTy executable (`putty.exe`). The PuTTY Configuration options will load in a new window.
![The PuTTY Configuration window](/images/putty-7.jpeg)
2. Fill in the hostname with the [hostname for your access point](#hostname). Use Port 22 and the "SSH" connection type — these are usually the defaults.
3. After clicking "Open", you will be prompted to fill in your username and password, then to authenticate with Duo.

The only user-friendly aspect of PuTTY is the idea of a "SSH profile" that can be saved as a desktop shortcut.

Everything else about PuTTY is awful to interact with, particularly the terminal interface. Highly recommend that users switch to using the Windows Terminal program instead. Advantages:

  • Modern "Settings" interface provides easily customizable appearance
  • Modern shortcuts work as expected:
    • Ctrl =, Ctrl -, and Ctrl 0 to adjust font size
    • Ctrl C and Ctrl V for copy/paste

If the user really wants a shortcut, it should be possible to create one that uses Terminal to run their SSH command; I say wait until a user needs that functionality before trying to figure it out.

Otherwise, the only command the user needs to remember to switch between PuTTY and Terminal is ssh [email protected].

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

No labels
No labels

Type

No type

Projects

No projects

Milestone

No milestone

Relationships

None yet

Development

No branches or pull requests

Issue actions