Using PuTTY to log on to the CS Unix machines

This document describes the process of downloading and configuring the free SSH program PuTTY to enable logging on to the CS department Unix machines from your home MS Windows computer. It assumes familiarty with basic Windows concepts.

For a list of available Unix machines, see the main department Web page and follow the link for Computing Resources.

Downloading PuTTY

Go to the PuTTY download page. Download the putty.exe for your particular operating system. Move the file to your desktop or create some other convenient shortcut to it.

Configuring PuTTY

We will assume that you are logging on to the machine montrealer.cs.uchicago.edu. If you prefer to use a different machine, feel free.
First, open PuTTY. It should bring up a window entitled PuTTY Configuration.
The first thing we need to do is tell PuTTY about a specific machine. In order to do this...

Click on the Host Name window and type in montrealer.cs.uchicago.edu.
Click the SSH radio button (as opposed to the Telnet radio button).
Click on the Saved Sessions window and type in the session name (eg montrealer).
Click the Save button.

This sequence of actions should create an entry in the list beneath the Saved Sessions window.

Logging on using PuTTY Now, you need to log on to the machine. In order to do this, click onto the machine in the list (eg montrealer) and then click the Open button. This should bring up a text window which prompts you for your user name and then your password.