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Is there a way to configure a password for a stored session in PUTTY?

I know there is the capability to specify an "auto-login username" (under Connection/Data) but is there a way to do the same with the 'password'?

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Use KiTTy... its developed using PuTTy source code.. – Sachin Shekhar Apr 13 '12 at 12:52

11 Answers

up vote 82 down vote accepted

For some versions of Putty it's as simple as:

putty.exe root@somewhere.com -pw mypasswordforsomewherecom

If you want connect using ssh use this:

putty.exe -ssh root@somewhere.com -pw mypasswordforsomewherecom

For those using Windows, you can simply create a shortcut and pass in these parameters.
For example:

  1. Create a shortcut on desktop to putty.exe
  2. Rename the shortcut to PuTTY - server.com
  3. Right-click shortcut and choose Properties
  4. Modify the target similar to:
    "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\putty.exe" user@server.com -pw password
  5. Click OK

If your putty does not support the pw parameter, you will need a public key as explained here :
"Creating and Copying Your Key-Pair in PuTTY SSH Client".

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harrymc's answer is the best option. The Putty FAQ makes it clear there's no way in the settings to store a password – Dave Webb Sep 20 '09 at 12:00

Strongly advise using the public key mechanisms rather than sending passwords from the shell.
Here is one more reference for the setup.

Link to get latest PuTTY binaries (and check the FAQ).

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+1 for the right way. Storing passwords in plaintext anywhere is a poor idea. – Zac B Dec 3 '12 at 18:45

I use mRemote on Windows; it can store usernames and passwords for SSH, RDP, VNC and Citrix.

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+1 Nice application! – MatÄ›j Zábský Oct 17 '11 at 12:59
I found this pretty buggy on Win7. Dragging the window around caused major hangs. Shame because apart from that it is great. – jsims281 Jan 11 '12 at 16:51

Putty Connection Manager can autologin, and has an encrypted database holding the passwords.

I still prefer ssh keys though.

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If you want to preserve saved options (such as pre-configured window sizes and tunnel proxy) and load a saved session to auto-login, use this approach: http://www.shanghaiwebhosting.com/web-hosting/putty-ssh-auto-login

putty.exe -load my_server -l your_user_name -pw your_password

Where 'my_server' is a saved session name.

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Tunnelier - saved passwords encrypted locally. It also has a sFTP GUI as well as SSH windows.

enter image description here

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i prefer doing like this on windows machine.

save the putty in a folder say "mytools"and run the command from command prompt.

tools>mytools 10 

10 is the last octet of your ip address. that's it

@ECHO OFF
set PUTTY=E:\tools\putty.exe
start %PUTTY% root@192.168.1. %1 -pw yourpassword
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Perfect. But by doing this, all of color customizations are gone and I am stuck with native PuTTy ugly color-scheme. I have added these reg files igvita.com/2008/04/14/custom-putty-color-themes as my color scheme but can i use it somehow ? – Em Ae Feb 21 at 17:57

Yes, there is a way, recently I added password saving feature for putty 1.5.4 for both linux and windows, you can download binaries and source from here. http://oohtj.blogspot.com/2012/11/putty-062-with-password-saving-feature.html

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if command history is a security concern, go the public key route (as your plaintext password specified in the -pw option is stored in command history).

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if you use the following way, don't forget to add "" to enclose your session name, e.g. putty.exe -load "my session name", or it may fail to load session.

putty.exe -load my_server -l your_user_name -pw your_password
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There is also Remote Desk Manager

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protected by Karan Apr 24 at 21:46

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