How to create double-clickable .exe on Windows that is ssh command

Question

On OSX, I've used the Automator application to send iTerm an ssh user@host "remote command" command and save it as a .app that's double-clickable--how would I do the equivalent on Windows XP/Vista/7?

Answer 1

Assuming that you have an ssh client on your Windows machine, open Windows Explorer (the Windows file manager), navigate to the directory containing your ssh.exe, right click on ssh.exe and select Send To -> Desktop (create shortcut). Then, on your Desktop, right click on the shortcut (it will be named "shortcut to ssh.exe"--you can rename it to anything you like) and select Properties. Click on the Shortcut tab if that one isn't already selected. In the Target: field will be the full path to your ssh.exe. Simply add any arguments after the command as you would on the command line. Click OK.

Now you can double click the shortcut and your ssh command will be executed. If you don't have to enter a password and don't want to see the Command Prompt window, open the shortcut's Properties dialog again, select the Shortcut tab, and in the Run: field, select "Minimized".

That's all for Windows XP.

For an ssh client, I use the one from Cygwin, but Cygwin is probably too much if all you want is ssh.

Answer 2

PuTTY is a good Windows-based SSH client. I've used it on XP. The FAQ includes an answer to this question. It's along the same lines as garyjohn's answer.