After you launch your instance, you can connect to it and use it the way that you'd use

a computer sitting in
front of you.
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 user name that you should use to connect to your instance,
see General prerequisites for connecting to your instance.
Install PuTTY on your local computer
Download and install PuTTY from the PuTTY download page. If you already have an older version of PuTTY installed, we
recommend that you download the latest version. Be sure to install the entire suite.
Convert your private key using PuTTYgen
Locate the private key (.pem file) for the key pair that you specified when you launched the instance. Convert the .pem file to
a .ppk file for use with PuTTY. For more information, follow the steps in the next section.
Convert your private key using PuTTYgen
PuTTY does not natively support the private key format for SSH keys. PuTTY provides a tool named
PuTTYgen, which converts keys to the required 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 key
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.

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.

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, my-key-pair) 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.
To connect to your instance using PuTTY
1. Start PuTTY (from the Start menu, choose All Programs, PuTTY, PuTTY).
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 my-instance-user-name@my-instance-public-dns-
name.
 (IPv6) Alternatively, if your instance has an IPv6 address, to connect using your instance's IPv6 address, enter my-
instance-user-name@my-instance-IPv6-address.
 For information about how to get the user name 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.

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 the Seconds between keepalives field. 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, expand SSH, and then choose Auth. Complete the following:
1. Choose Browse.
2. Select the .ppk file that you generated for your key pair and choose Open.
3. (Optional) If you plan to start this session again later, you can save the session information for future use.
Under Category, choose Session, enter a name for the session in Saved Sessions, and then choose Save.
4. Choose Open.
5. 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 Yes. A window opens and you are connected to your instance.
Note
If you specified a passphrase when you converted your private key to PuTTY's 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 my-
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 my-instance-user-name@my-instance-public-dns-

name:/home/my-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 my-instance-user-name@[my-instance-IPv6-address]:/home/my-

instance-user-name/Sample_file.txt
Transfer files to your Linux instance using WinSCP
WinSCP is a GUI-based file manager for Windows that allows you to upload and transfer files to a remote
computer using the SFTP, SCP, FTP, and FTPS protocols. WinSCP allows you to 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 user name for your AMI.
 For Amazon Linux 2 or the Amazon Linux AMI, the user name is ec2-user.
 For a CentOS AMI, the user name is centos.
 For a Debian AMI, the user name is admin.
 For a Fedora AMI, the user name is ec2-user or fedora.
 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.
 Otherwise, if ec2-user and root don't work, check with the AMI provider.
5. Specify the private key for your instance. For Private key, enter the path to your private key, or choose the "..." button to
browse for the file. To open the advanced site settings, for newer versions of WinSCP, choose Advanced. To find
the Private key file setting, under SSH, choose Authentication.
Here is a screenshot from WinSCP version 5.9.4:
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.

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.
 

From <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/putty.html>