Connecting to VPS or dedicated server via SSH on Windows

PuTTY is a popular free SSH client for Windows. It allows you to connect to your VPS or dedicated server and manage it from the command line.

Connecting with Username and Password

1. Launch PuTTY.
2. On the main “Session” tab, fill in the fields:
   • Host Name (or IP address) — IP address or hostname of your server (found in your Fornex dashboard under order details).
   • Port — 22 (default SSH port).
   • Connection type — SSH.

Main PuTTY session configuration

3. (Optional) In Saved Sessions, enter a name for this connection (e.g., “My VPS”) and click Save — this saves the settings for future use.
4. Click Open.

On first connection, PuTTY will show a security alert about the server's unknown key:

Server key verification prompt

Click Accept to trust the key permanently, or Connect Once for a one-time connection.

5. In the opened terminal window, type your login (usually root) and press Enter.
6. Type the password for the account and press Enter.

• No characters appear on screen while typing the password — this is normal and done for security. Just type it and press Enter.

After successful login, you’ll be in the server’s command line (usually bash).

Connecting with SSH Key (Passwordless)

1. Generate a key pair using PuTTYgen (included with PuTTY):

   • Launch PuTTYgen.
   • Click Generate and move your mouse to create randomness.
   • Click Save private key.
   • Copy the public key from the top field (starts with ssh-rsa or ssh-ed25519).

2. Add the public key to the server in /root/.ssh/authorized_keys:

   • Connect to the server using password (as in the previous section).
   • Create the .ssh folder if it doesn’t exist:

mkdir -p ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh

• Open the file:

nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

• Paste the copied public key on a new line.
• Save (Ctrl+O → Enter → Ctrl+X).
• Set correct permissions:

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chown root:root ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

For detailed key setup instructions: Setting up SSH key authentication on the server.

3. In PuTTY, specify the private key:

• Go to Connection → SSH → Auth
• Click Browse and select your saved private key (.ppk file).

Configuring the private key in PuTTY

4. Save the session and click Open — you’ll connect without entering a password.