Connecting to an EC2 instance using Putty, WinSCP and a PEM file

First install the necessary tools

From this site (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html), install Putty and PuttyGen.

From this site (http://winscp.net/eng/index.php), install WinSCP.

Convert the PEM file to a PPK file

When you created the EC2 instance, you were given a private key file (extension: .pem). This private key file is in a form called PEM – “Private Enhanced Mail”. Putty cannot work with PEM files. Putty uses a different format called PPK. You can convert the PEM to PPK file using Puttygen.

1. Run Puttygen.
2. From the menu option “Conversions”, select “Import key”
3. In the dialog, locate the pem file and “Open” it.
4. Change the comment from ‘imported-openssh-key” to a something more descriptive like “my-db-server”
5. Optional: Enter a passphrase.
6. Create PPK file by clicking on “Save private key”

Connect to the server using WinSCP

1. Run WinSCP
2. In the Login dialog, click on the “New” button
3. Enter the “Host” name or IP address
4. Enter “User name” (ec2-user, root etc.)
5. Select the PPK file in box “Private key file”
6. Click on “Save…” and give it a descritive name like “my-db-server”
7. Close and run WinSCP again, this time select server name and click in the “Login” button

Connect to the server using Putty

1. Configure WinSCP to invoke Putty
2. Goto “Options->Preferences”
3. Select “Integrations/Applications”
4. Locate putty.exe and click on “OK”
5. Restart WinSCP and login to the server.
6. From the WinSCP toolbar click, on the Putty icon (usually 8th icon from the left)
7. You should be now logged into the server using Putty.