Configure PuTTY on Windows

To configure PuTTY on Windows we need to do the following tasks:

  1. Download the required software.
  2. Add our key to Pageant.
  3. Configure PuTTY.

Download the required software

To work with Hanythingondemand from Windows, you need to download and install a couple of tools. All of the following are available from the PuTTY website: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

  1. PuTTy - The ssh client.
  2. Plink - A command line interface to the PuTTy back ends.
  3. Pageant - A key manager used to allow PuTTy and Plink to play together.

Add your keys to Pageant

Double click the Pageant icon to run the service. Right click the icon in the systray and click Add keys. You will be presented with a window as follows:

Click Add Key and select your ppk file. If it is password protected, you will be prompted to enter your password. Please do so.

_images/04-pageant.png

Configure PuTTY for the Tunnel

Configure Session

Open PuTTY and make a new connection. The connection should point to the master node of your HOD cluster.

_images/05-putty-proxy-session.png

Configure Connection -> Proxy

Make the proxy local.

Under Proxy hostname enter the name of your login node. e.g. For the Ghent University, we use login.hpc.ugent.be.

Set your DNS name lookup at proxy end to Yes. This will let you connect to the resulting host if your HPC team hasn’t all the nodes to your HPC site’s DNS. Set your username.

Under Telnet command, or local proxy command, enter the following command:

_images/06-putty-proxy.png

Configure Connection -> SSH -> Tunnel

Make a connection that uses Auto and Dynamic. Select a port number which will later be used in your browser. In the screenshots, 12345 is used, but it can be any unpriveleged port.

_images/07.1-putty-tunnel.png

Click Add to put the configuration in place, which should make the port number appear in the list of forwarded ports:

_images/07-putty-tunnel.png

Configure Connection -> Data

Add your user name under Auto-login username. This is required here so plink can use this.
_images/08-putty-data.png

Saving the configuration

There are a lof of things to change here, so be sure to go back to Session and give your configuration a name and Save it so you can reuse it via Load in the future.