View source for PuTTY

{{short description|Free and open-source terminal emulator, serial console and network file transfer application}}
{{About|the computer software|the sealing material|Putty|other uses|Putty (disambiguation)}}
{{multiple issues|
{{Primary sources|date=October 2008}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2011}}
}}
{{Infobox software
| name = PuTTY
| logo = PuTTY Icon upstream.svg
| screenshot = PuTTY Ubuntu.png
| caption = A screenshot of PuTTY running under [[Ubuntu MATE]]
| developer = [[Simon Tatham]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1999|01|08}}<ref name=git>{{Cite web|url=https://git.tartarus.org/?p=simon%2Fputty.git%3Ba%3Dcommit%3Bh%3Dc74130d423fd83a65c51b7634e3c34aaf557ae68|title=git.tartarus.org Git - simon/putty.git/commit|website=git.tartarus.org|access-date=31 August 2017|archive-date=21 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921140141/https://git.tartarus.org/?p=simon%2Fputty.git%3Ba%3Dcommit%3Bh%3Dc74130d423fd83a65c51b7634e3c34aaf557ae68|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q841685|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q841685|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q841685|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q841685|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]], [[ReactOS]], [[macOS]], [[Linux]]
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]]
| genre = [[Terminal emulator]]
| license = [[MIT License]]<ref name=license>{{cite web |url=https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/licence.html |title=PuTTY Licence|access-date=2021-03-08}}</ref>
| website = {{URL|https://putty.software/}}
{{URL|https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/}}
}}
[[File:PuTTY_User_Manual.pdf|thumb|PuTTY user manual (copy from 2022)]]
'''PuTTY''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ʌ|t|i|}})<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/faq.html#faq-pronounce|title=PuTTY FAQ|website=www.chiark.greenend.org.uk}}</ref> is a [[free and open-source]] [[terminal emulator]], [[serial console]] and network file transfer application. It supports several [[network protocol]]s, including [[Secure copy protocol|SCP]], [[Secure Shell|SSH]], [[Telnet]], [[rlogin]], and raw socket connection. It can also connect to a [[serial port]]. The name "PuTTY" has no official meaning.<ref>{{cite web |quote = [PuTTY is] the name of a popular SSH and Telnet client. Any other meaning is in the eye of the beholder. It's been rumoured that ‘PuTTY’ is the antonym of ‘getty’, or that it's the stuff that makes your Windows useful, or that it's a kind of plutonium Teletype. We couldn't possibly comment on such allegations. |url = https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/faq.html#faq-meaning |title = PuTTY FAQ }}</ref>

PuTTY was originally written for [[Microsoft Windows]], but it has been [[porting|ported]] to various other [[operating system]]s. Official ports are available for some [[Unix-like]] platforms, with work-in-progress ports to {{nowrap|[[Classic Mac OS]]}} and {{nowrap|[[macOS]]}}, and unofficial ports have been contributed to platforms such as [[Symbian]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://s2putty.sourceforge.net/|title=PuTTY for Symbian OS|website=s2putty.sourceforge.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/PuTTY_for_symbian_OS|title=Forum Nokia Wiki – PuTTY for Symbian OS|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716084848/http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/PuTTY_for_symbian_OS|archive-date=2012-07-16}}</ref> [[Windows Mobile]] and [[Windows Phone]].

PuTTY was written and is maintained primarily by [[Simon Tatham]], a British programmer.

==Features==
PuTTY supports many variations on the secure remote terminal, and provides user control over the [[Secure Shell|SSH]] encryption key and protocol version, alternate ciphers such as [[Advanced Encryption Standard|AES]], [[Triple DES|3DES]], [[RC4]], [[Blowfish (cipher)|Blowfish]], [[Data Encryption Standard|DES]], and [[public-key]] authentication. PuTTY uses its own format of key files – PPK (protected by ''Message Authentication Code'').<ref name="PPK">{{cite news|url=http://blog.danyll.com/ssh-and-transfer-files-using-putty-private-key-ppk/|title=SSH and Transfer Files using Putty Private Key (.ppk)|newspaper=D4Nyll |date=21 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518105614/http://blog.danyll.com/ssh-and-transfer-files-using-putty-private-key-ppk/|archive-date=2021-05-18}}</ref> PuTTY supports [[Single sign-on|SSO]] through [[Generic Security Services Application Program Interface|GSSAPI]], including user provided GSSAPI [[Dynamic-link library|DLLs]]. It also can emulate control sequences from [[xterm]], [[VT220]], [[VT102]] or [[ECMA-48]] [[terminal emulator|terminal emulation]], and allows local, remote, or dynamic [[port forwarding]] with SSH (including [[X11]] forwarding). The network communication layer supports [[IPv6]], and the SSH protocol supports the [[zlib]]@openssh.com delayed compression scheme. It can also be used with local serial port connections.

PuTTY comes bundled with command-line [[Secure copy protocol|SCP]] and [[SSH File Transfer Protocol|SFTP]] clients, called "pscp" and "psftp" respectively, and plink, a command-line connection tool, used for non-interactive sessions.<ref>{{cite book|title=SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide|last1=Barrett|first1=Daniel|last2=Silverman|first2=Richard|last3=Byrnes|first3=Robert|publisher=[[O'Reilly Media]]|isbn=9780596008956|date=2005|pages=577–579|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XzIFG3w8-YC&pg=PT594}}</ref>

PuTTY does not support [[tabbed document interface|session tabs]] directly,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/wishlist/multiple-connections.html|title=PuTTY wish multiple-connections|website=www.chiark.greenend.org.uk}}</ref> but many wrappers are available that do.<ref>(e.g. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090912063712/http://puttycm.free.fr/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=41&Itemid=55 PuTTY Connection Manager], [https://github.com/jimradford/superputty SuperPuTTY], [https://ttyplus.com/multi-tabbed-putty/ MTPuTTY], [https://mremoteng.org/ mRemoteNG], [https://winsshterm.blogspot.com/ WinSSHTerm], [https://sourceforge.net/projects/puttymanager/ PuTTY Manager], [https://www.raisin.de/putty-tabs/putty-tabs.html PuttyTabs] or [https://spoox.org/projects/twsc/ TWSC (Terminal Window ShortCuts)]).</ref>

==History==
PuTTY development began in 1996,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/quasiblog/putty-icons/ |last=Tatham |first=Simon |title= Iconography of the PuTTY tools |date=March 12, 2025}}</ref> and was a usable SSH-2 client by October 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/faq.html#faq-ssh2|title=PuTTY FAQ|website=www.chiark.greenend.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/changes.html|title=PuTTY Change Log|website=www.chiark.greenend.org.uk}}</ref>

==Components==
PuTTY consists of several components:
; PuTTY: the [[Telnet]], [[rlogin]], and [[Secure Shell|SSH]] client itself, which can also connect to a [[serial port]]
; PSCP: an [[Secure copy protocol|SCP]] client, i.e. command-line secure file copy. Can also use [[SSH File Transfer Protocol|SFTP]] to perform transfers
; PSFTP: an [[SSH File Transfer Protocol|SFTP]] client, i.e. general file transfer sessions much like [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]]
; PuTTYtel: a Telnet-only client
; Plink: a command-line interface to the PuTTY back ends. Usually used for [[Tunneling_protocol#SSH|SSH Tunneling]]
; Pageant: an [[ssh-agent|SSH authentication agent]] for PuTTY, PSCP and Plink
; PuTTYgen: an [[RSA (cryptosystem)|RSA]], [[Digital Signature Algorithm|DSA]], [[Elliptic_Curve_Digital_Signature_Algorithm|ECDSA]] and [[EdDSA]] key generation utility
; pterm: (Unix version only) an X11 client which supports the same terminal emulation as PuTTY

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
*[[Comparison of SSH clients]]
*[[Tera Term]]
*[[mintty]]
*[[WinSCP]]
*[[minicom]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|PuTTY}}
*{{official website}}
*[https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/ Original project website]

{{Terminal emulator}}
{{Cryptographic software}}
{{FLOSS}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Putty}}
[[Category:1998 software]]
[[Category:Cross-platform free software]]
[[Category:Cryptographic software]]
[[Category:Free communication software]]
[[Category:Free software programmed in C]]
[[Category:Free terminal emulators]]
[[Category:Portable software]]
[[Category:Secure Shell]]
[[Category:SSH File Transfer Protocol clients]]
[[Category:Software using the MIT license]]
[[Category:Symbian software]]
[[Category:Telnet]]