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Is there a good PuTTY (free telnet / ssh client) equivalent for OS X?
I know that I can just use terminal and an
ssh
command, but I want some sort of application that will store connection info, passwords, logs, etc for me, much like PuTTY.Does this exist?
Steve RobbinsSteve Robbins
10 Answers
PuTTY is a great Windows frontend, not to mention the need for an SSH client in the first place. On Linux, OS X, and most other UNIX-y based environments, SSH is generally purely command line, but still amazingly powerful.
The SSH client allows you to store an amazing amount of properties based on a given hostname, even global defaults, in the 'ssh_config' client file. This file doesn't exist by default (per the comments on the question), but should be written at
~/.ssh/config
.That path equates to:
~
, your home directory, it expands on my system to /Users/jason
..ssh
, the leading dot makes it hidden. If you're in Terminal and in your home directory, you can simply run cd .ssh
and enter it.config
is the file name, it is a plain text file with configuration parameters.I use this file to control tunnels I always use, the private key needed for the connection, the username (if it differs from my local username), etc.
See the manpage, either via
man ssh_config
on your own machine which will contain the most appropriate version, or you can view it online from OpenBSD's Site.Some example contents from my ssh config file are:
Whitespace is purely personal preference, it is not required except to separate Keys from Values.
The first three lines are global properties, they affect every SSH connection. The second section is a host-specific configuration.
The
Host
line specifies the host tag you will use when invoking ssh
. Ex. ssh serve
. When running that, it loads all the properties listed until the next Host
line.Since
serve
is not necessarily a DNS name, I specify the Hostname
that it should actually connect to (no, not actually mine). User
is self explanatory and there just to be explicit, and the IdentityFile
is the path to the Private Key file it uses to connect.Lastly,
LocalForward
sets up a port forwarding rule that I send through the SSH tunnel.The various syntaxes are all documented on the man page.
There is no mechanism for defining a plain text password. Password entry is ALWAYS interactive when setting up the SSH connection. If you want to log in automatically, set up Private Key Authentication. Storing plain text passwords is stupid, always.
I use this to great effect. And the best part? All your SSH configurations are incredibly portable, it's just one file that you have to backup/retain, and move between system to system! Not so portable to Windows, but who really likes dealing with the registry anyway?
Jason SalazJason Salaz
Why not using MacPorts (https://www.macports.org/)? They have ported putty. You'll need to install MacPorts first, but once you've done that you can run:
and you'll have putty available on your Mac.
Ian C.♦
PitoneuxPitoneux
I have no experiences with this App: ZOC - I only did a quick Google on 'OS X telnet GUI' and got a link to this product as the first hit - but it seems to do the same as PuTTY.
There is a 30 days trial available.
ZOC is a professional SSH/telnet client and terminal emulator. With its impressive list of emulations it lets you easily connect to hosts and mainframes, using communication methods like secure shell, telnet, serial cable or modem/isdn.
Its sleek user interface has many ways of making your life easier. In its own way, ZOC is the Swiss Army Knife of terminal emulators: versatile, robust, proven.
Key Benefits:
- Tabbed sessions with thumbnails
- Customizable to meet your preferences and needs
- Scripting language with over 200 commands
- Compatible with Windows 7 and OS X Mountain Lion
- Administrator friendly (deployment, configuration)
- Now $79.99 with attractive bulk discounts
Key Features:
- Emulations: VT220, xterm, Wyse, QNX, TN3270, TN5250, ...
- Communication: SSH, Telnet, Modem, Serial Cable, ...
- File Transfer: SCP, Zmodem, Xmodem, Ymodem, Kermit, ...
Rene LarsenRene Larsen
Jason's answer is definitely the way to go, but I'd like to point out a feature of Terminal that may be useful.
Within Terminal, you can make a direct connection to a remote machine similar to the way PuTTY does, without first opening a terminal window on the local machine. Simply select Shell->New Remote Connection... (cmd-shift-K). In the window that pops up, you can add any SSH server to the right-hand column, including aliases defined in the ~/.ssh/config file.
Using Jason's example, you would select 'Secure Shell' as the service on the left, and then add 'serve' to the list of servers on the right.
In the future, you can open the dialog box (much like the main PuTTY window) and double-click the entry for the server you want to connect to. The only difference between this and PuTTY is that you put custom configuration settings in the ~/.ssh/config file, which I see as a huge advantage.
Community♦
ithos67ithos67
You can install PuTTy on OS X with Homebrew:
And then run it from terminal as
putty
.If you don't have Homebrew, you can install it from Terminal:
ShmidtShmidt
You might want to consider:
Spackle (free, SourceForge link)
This is a Java-based version of PuTTY, available for Mac and Linux.
user37824user37824
Any terminal program could work with this answer, but I recommend iTerm2.
To store connection info and login with a single short command (no password typing required), you could use a key-login combined with an 'alias'.
Once you have an ssh-key on your server and your Mac, you could login with a command such as:
Using an alias within ~/.bash_profile you could shorten the command with an alias such as:
Then in iTerm2 you only need to execute a command:
to log into the server at 10.0.0.1 using ssh key login.
To store your session log (commands you've run) iTerm2 does this automatically, but you can adjust the amount of session logs you'd like to keep within Preferences -> Default profile -> Terminal -> Scrollback buffer. Tick the box for Unlimited scrollback if you prefer.
You can also store your logs indefinitely, between sessions by saving them to files. Preferences -> Default profile -> Miscellaneous -> Automatically log session input to files in [your chosen file on drive].
BakerBaker
I have ported Putty to Mac as a native application bundle, so no need for macports or terminals if your not a technical user.
More information with screen-shots is here : http://www.wine-reviews.net/2016/08/putty-for-mac-os-x-now-available.html
Cheers,
twicklinetwickline
vSSH is a PuTTY-based OS X app.
- Can almost everything that PuTTY can
- Multi-tab multi-window interface
- Macros support (you shell scripts as menu items for quick access)
- iCloud synchronization (connections, macros and keys) with vSSH and SSH control apps for iOS
Available on the Mac AppStore.
whoamiwhoami
Yes. There is new kid in town:
oktawianoktawian
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Developer(s) | Simon Tatham |
---|---|
Initial release | January 8, 1999; 20 years ago[1] |
Stable release | 0.71 / March 16, 2019; 2 months ago[2] |
Repository | |
Written in | C |
Operating system | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux |
Type | Terminal emulator |
License | MIT license |
Website | www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty |
PuTTY (/ˈpʌti/)[3] is a free and open-sourceterminal emulator, serial console and network file transfer application. It supports several network protocols, including SCP, SSH, Telnet, rlogin, and raw socket connection. It can also connect to a serial port. The name 'PuTTY' has no official meaning.[4]
PuTTY was originally written for Microsoft Windows, but it has been ported to various other operating systems. Official ports are available for some Unix-like platforms, with work-in-progress ports to Classic Mac OS and macOS, and unofficial ports have been contributed to platforms such as Symbian,[5][6]Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.
PuTTY was written and is maintained primarily by Simon Tatham.
Features[edit]
PuTTY supports many variations on the secure remote terminal, and provides user control over the SSH encryption key and protocol version, alternate ciphers such as AES, 3DES, Arcfour, Blowfish, DES, and Public-key authentication. PuTTY supports SSO through GSSAPI, including user provided GSSAPI DLLs. It also can emulate control sequences from xterm, VT220, VT102 or ECMA-48terminal 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 [email protected] delayed compression scheme. It can also be used with local serial port connections.
PuTTY comes bundled with command-line SCP and SFTP clients, called 'pscp' and 'psftp' respectively, and plink, a command-line connection tool, used for non-interactive sessions.[7]
PuTTY does not support session tabs directly, but many wrappers are available that do.[8]
History[edit]
PuTTY's development dates back to late 1998,[1] and it has been a usable SSH-2 client since October 2000.[9][10]
Components[edit]
PuTTY consists of several components:
- PuTTY: the Telnet, rlogin, and SSH client itself, which can also connect to a serial port
- PSCP: an SCP client, i.e. command-line secure file copy. Can also use SFTP to perform transfers
- PSFTP: an SFTP client, i.e. general file transfer sessions much like FTP
- PuTTYtel: a Telnet-only client
- Plink: a command-line interface to the PuTTY back ends. Usually used for SSH Tunneling
- Pageant: an SSH authentication agent for PuTTY, PSCP and Plink
- PuTTYgen: an RSA, DSA, ECDSA and EdDSA key generation utility
- pterm: a standalone terminal emulator
Reception[edit]
In 2009, Justin James of TechRepublic cited its reliability, cost, cross-platform support, and features as positives. He faulted complex configuration, extended beta testing, and lack of support for scripting.[11] J. Peter Bruzzese of InfoWorld included it in his list of 15 Essential Open Source Tools for Windows Admins and wrote that its imitators are not as good.[12]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abEarliest documented release
- ^PuTTY version 0.71 is released
- ^Putty FAQ – Pronunciation
- ^'PuTTY FAQ'.
[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.
- ^PuTTY for Symbian OS
- ^Forum Nokia Wiki – PuTTY for Symbian OSArchived 2012-07-16 at Archive.today
- ^Barrett, Daniel; Silverman, Richard; Byrnes, Robert (2005). SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide. O'Reilly Media. pp. 577–579. ISBN9780596008956.
- ^PuTTY Features
- ^PuTTY FAQ: Does PuTTY support SSH-2?
- ^PuTTY Change Log
- ^James, Justin (2009-08-06). 'Review: PuTTY terminal application'. TechRepublic. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
- ^Bruzzese, J. Peter (2014-12-08). '15 essential open source tools for Windows admins'. InfoWorld. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to PuTTY. |
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PuTTY&oldid=894981117'