Is there a way to "auto login" in PuTTY with a password?

Question

Is there a way to configure a password for a stored session in PuTTY?

I know there is the capability to specify an "auto-login username" (under Connection/Data), but is there a way to do the same with the password?

Answer 1

For some versions of PuTTY, it's as simple as one of:

putty.exe [e-mail] -pw mypassword
putty.exe somewhere.com -l mylogin -pw mypassword

If you want to connect using SSH, use this:

putty.exe -ssh [e-mail] -pw mypasswordforsomewherecom

For those using Windows, you can simply create a shortcut and pass in these parameters.

For example:

1. Create a shortcut on the desktop to putty.exe
2. Rename the shortcut to PuTTY - server.com
3. Right-click shortcut and choose Properties
4. Modify the target similar to: "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\putty.exe" [e-mail] -pw password
5. Click OK

If your PuTTY does not support the pw parameter, you will need a public key as explained in:
Creating and Copying Your Key-Pair in PuTTY SSH Client.

Answer 2

Strongly advise using the public key mechanisms rather than sending passwords from the shell.
Here is one more reference for the setup.

Link to get latest PuTTY binaries (and check the FAQ).

Answer 3

I use WinSCP to “auto login” in PuTTY with a password. It's free, contains plenty of features, was created in 2000 and is still activity maintained. (WinSCP Wikipedia page)

Opening PuTTY from WinSCP can be done from either the login window, or from the SFTP window, which I find extremely handy:

Answer 4

If you want to preserve saved options (such as pre-configured window sizes and tunnel proxy) and load a saved session to auto-login, use this approach: http://www.shanghaiwebhosting.com/web-hosting/putty-ssh-auto-login

putty.exe -load my_server -l your_user_name -pw your_password

Where 'my_server' is a saved session name.

Answer 5

PuTTY Connection Manager is a separate program that works with PuTTY. It can autologin and has an encrypted database holding the passwords.

I still prefer SSH keys though.

(Another downside is that it may no longer be supported by its original developer(s), and may only be available to download from third-party sources.)

Answer 6

There's a port of PuTTY called KiTTY which allows saving username / password.

The kitty_portable.exe is very handy; no installation is needed.

Answer 7

I use mRemote on Windows; it can store usernames and passwords for SSH, RDP, VNC and Citrix.

Answer 8

Yes, there is a way. Recently I added a password saving feature for PuTTY 1.5.4 for both Linux and Windows. You can download binaries and source from Oohtj: PuTTY 0.62 with a password saving feature.

Answer 9

Tunnelier - saved passwords encrypted locally. It also has a sFTP GUI as well as SSH windows.

Answer 10

Combining two different packages for a security solution can be dangerous. This is the PuTTY-only way to do it, only using software from the PuTTY site.

You should first use PuTTYgen to create a key pair, then install the private key in PuTTY, and copy the public key to the remote site. Here is how you do this.

Download PuTTYgen, and execute it to generate a SSH2-RSA key. I'd use at least 4098 bits. Click the Generate button, move the mouse around, until the key pair is generated.

Once it's generated, your screen will look like this:

Describe the account in the "Key Comment" field. Then save the private key in one file, and the public key in another file.

Your public key will look like this:

---- BEGIN SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----
Comment: "rsa-key-20160822"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---- END SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----

You have to edit this to a form that is suitable for your remote site. Let's assume it's a Linux machine using ssh.

Edit the file so it has three fields:

1. The first should say "ssh-rsa"
2. The second should be your public key all on one line with no spaces.
3. The third is a comment - which can correspond to your key comment field.

So it should look like this when done

ssh-rsa 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 rsa-key-20160822

Personally, I would copy the file over to the Linux machine, and then edit it, because editors like vim are much more tolerant of long lines. I'd use the 'J' command to join two lines, then search for spaces and delete the spaces between the lines. When I copied this file over to Windows, the system insisted on splitting the single long line into multiple lines with "\" between the lines. Yuck. To continue...

Log into the remote machine, and copy/edit, then append the public key into the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file in the same format as the other keys. It should be a single line. There should be three fields on a single line. The first says "ssh-rsa". The second is the key which should end with the characters "=" the third field is optional, and will contain what you put in the Key Comment field.

If this is the first time you have created the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file, make sure the directory and file are not group or world readable.

Once this is done, then you have to create a PuTTY session where the private key is used.

In the PuTTY session, go to Connection=>SSH=>Auth and click browse and select where you stored your private key "It's a *.ppk" file.

Then save this session (I'm assuming you also set up the account, IP address, etc.).

Once this is done, you just have to select the session, and you are logged in.

A more secure way is to store your private key in an encrypted file, using a passphrase. Then use Pageant to manage your passphrase. That way the private key is always encrypted, and you only have to type in a passphrase once in a while.

Answer 11

If you use the following way, don't forget to add "" to enclose your session name, or it may fail to load the session. For example,

putty.exe -load "my session name", 

The general form is:

putty.exe -load my_server -l your_user_name -pw your_password

Answer 12

I prefer doing like this on a Windows machine. Save the PuTTY executable in a folder, say "mytools", and run this command from command prompt:

tools>mytools 10 

10 is the last octet of your IP address. That's it.

@ECHO OFF
set PUTTY=E:\tools\putty.exe
start %PUTTY% root@192.168.1. %1 -pw yourpassword

Answer 13

If the connection is authenticated by a public key and password, consider using Pageant which is part of the PuTTY suite.

You can add your private keys to Pageant with the associated password. Assuming you've got the correct username configured in PuTTY, you will authenticated transparently.

It doesn't store your passwords so you'll have to re-add your key next time you launch it. There is a command line option to launch and add keys in one go.

"C:\Program Files\PuTTY\Pageant.exe" key1.ppk key2.ppk key3.ppk

It will prompt for a password if required.

And best of all, it's part of the PuTTY suite, so you've probably already got it on your machine.

Answer 14

I would like to explain more on Emrald214s answer on MTPutty as its a nice free software.

MTPutty - Multi-tabbed putty (portable version because of corporate installation limitations for many users) as it helps to connect to many servers and its easy to organize in folders with this free software.

1. you can save your username password in session setting itself
2. you can fire automated commands after logging from script tab of new connection. this is very helpful if you need to set some scripts (specially alias scripts) on startup of your session. also you can automate logging of sesu but its not recommended as the password will be in plain text e.g.

in above script SLEEP is for wait in between commands in miliseconds.

Note:

1. MTPutty is just an interface hence you will also need to download kitty or putty to use with it.
2. The script will only work if the password is saved (otherwise it will try to take password from script :P which will result in failed login)
3. It has export and import sessions option as well along with many other useful features.

This software helps a lot in daily operation if you need to deal with many servers.

Answer 15

Install MTPuTTY and your problem should be solved. You can even execute a bunch of scripts after logging into Putty.

Answer 16

If the command history is a security concern, go the public key route (as your plaintext password specified in the -pw option is stored in the command history).