SSH into EC2 Instance using Putty

Convert Private key from PEM to PPK format:

  1. Install Putty Key Generator from https://www.puttygen.com/download-putty. Install it on the local computer/laptop. Launch the program. 

  2. Click on Load button and select “All Files” option. Point to the directory where the private key was saved and then select the file. 



                

  1. Click on Open. You should see the below message :
                      

  2. Click OK on the pop-up message. 

  3. On the PuTTY Key Generator page, provide a key passphrase and confirm the passphrase as well. Then click the button to save Private key. Provide the location on the local machine and save the PPK format file.            
                  

  4. The PPK formatted file should get saved. Close the PuTTY Key Generator application.

 

Connect PuTTY (or other SSH client) to the AWS instance:

  1. Install Putty from https://www.putty.org/. Launch the client. Provide the IPv4 Public IP Address of the instance.
                        

 

  1. Provide the Private key we configured in the earlier step. Under Connection --> SSH --> Auth, browse to the PPK formatted private key.
              

  2. Click Open. The instance might take a few minutes to get ready for accepting SSH connections, so please be patient.

  3. For Linux and Mac, you can directly SSH to the AWS instance using the private key OR use any another SSH client.