SSH using Putty

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, enter user_name@public_dns_name. Be sure to specify the appropriate user name for your AMI. For example:
      • 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 or root.
      • 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.
   2. (IPv6 only) To connect using your instance’s IPv6 address, enter user_name@ipv6_address. Be sure to specify the appropriate user name for your AMI. For example:
      • 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 or root.
      • 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.
   3. Under Connection type, select SSH.
   4. Ensure that Port is 22.
   
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 then choose Open.
   3. (Optional) If you plan to start this session again later, you can save the session information for future use. Choose Session in the Category tree, enter a name for the session in Saved Sessions, and then choose Save.
   4. Choose Open to start the PuTTY session.
   
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 you are connecting to.
6. (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.
7. Choose Yes. A window opens and you are connected to your instance.