Putty Generate Ppk From Private Key

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PuTTYgen, part of the open source network networking client PuTTY, is a crucial generating tool to create public and private SSH keys for servers. The native file format of PuTTY is .ppk files. Additionally, the tool is used for SSH connectivity. So users can use PuTTY to connect and securely transfer data from localhost to remote system.

But to use PuTTY, the private keys must be in the native format of the application. So for example, as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), a core part of the cloud-computing platform, generates Privacy-Enhanced Mail (PEM) file format, a user must first convert the file to .ppk file format before connecting to Linux Instance (virtual server on Amazon Web Services) from a Windows machine.

The EC2 allows users to lease virtual systems so that they can run their applications on it.

PuTTY does not natively support the private key format (.pem) generated by the AWS console for SSH to EC2s. PuTTY has a tool named PuTTYgen, which can convert keys to the required PuTTY format (.ppk). You must convert your private key into this format (.ppk) before attempting to connect to your instance using PuTTY SSH or WinSCP SFTP.

  1. To convert an existing PuTTY private key for Tectia or OpenSSH, use the command: puttygen keyfile.ppk -O private-openssh -o keyfile Then copy keyfile to the.ssh.
  2. PuTTY doesn't natively support the private key format (.pem) generated by Amazon EC2. You must convert your private key into a.ppk file before you can connect to your instance using PuTTY. You can use the PuTTYgen tool for this conversion.

However if one plans to use PuTTY’s SSH client to connect, then they are first required to convert the .pem file to .ppk using PuTTYgen and then use PuTTY application to join local and remote hosts.

  • 4 Converting .Pem to .Ppk on Unix or Linux

What Is the .Pem File Format?

Privacy-Enhanced Mail (PEM) file extension is a format that is mainly used to transmit data, certificates, email and cryptographic keys privately. The PEM file format is a tamperproof and secure way of storing and transferring data.

As a ‘.pem file’ can store multiple types of data; it represents data with appropriate suffix. While the most common is .pem suffix, others include .key for private keys and .cer or .crt for certificates. The PEM file format encodes it with the binary-to-text encoding scheme – base64 so that it represents binary data in ASCII string.

Even though the technological advancements have led to a more secure alternative to PEM container, it is still leveraged to store public and private certificates, root certificates and many others.

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Unlike most file formats that are easy to convert via online conversion tools, a user requires a specific application to convert files that have .pem extensions. PuTTYgen is one such application that quickly converts f .pem files to .ppk.

Convert .Pem to .Ppk using PuTTYgen

The primary requisite is to download and install PuTTY application. As part of the networking client, PuTTYgen does not have to be downloaded separately. Users must download the latest version of the app and install the entire suite. Once installed, PuTTYgen will be ready to convert .pem files to .ppk format. We will provide detail steps to convert files on both operating systems – Windows and Unix.

Converting .Pem to .Ppk on Windows

  1. Click on Start menu> All Programs > PuTTY > PuTTYgen.
  2. The following window will present with options on the crucial a user wants to generate. Select the option ‘RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman). RSA is a public-key cryptosystem that is commonly used to transmit data securely. Users with an older version of PuTTY should select the option – ‘SSH-2 RSA.’
  3. Next, click on the option ‘Load.’ As PuTTY supports its native file format, it will only show files that have .ppk file extension. Therefore, users have to choose the ‘All Files’ option from the drop-down bar. It will display all key files included the .pem file.
  4. Now, select the .pem file that you want to convert. As aforementioned that PuTTYgen is used for SSH connectivity, so it crucial for users to select the specific file that they plan to convert and click ‘Open.’ To confirm, click on ‘OK.’
  5. In the resultant window, click on ‘Save private key’ which will convert and save the key file in PuTTY compatible format.
  6. PuTTYgen will prompt a warning of saving the key without a passphrase. Hit ‘Yes’ on it.
  7. Now, give the name to your file and PuTTYgen will automatically add .ppk file extension.

Note – Passphrases provide extra protection, but it sometimes gets annoying as each time a user copies files they have to enter the passphrase. Although, it entirely depends on the user if they wish or don’t wish to add the extra layer of protection

Once the file is converted to PuTTY compatible format, users can connect their local machine with remote servers.

Converting .Pem to .Ppk on Unix or Linux

To convert the file on Unix is far simpler than Windows. Users are first required to install PuTTY application on their Unix machines. Once done, all a user must do is enter a one-line command. First, run the PuTTYgen command and type the below-written command:

$ sudo puttygen pemKey.pem -o ppkKey.ppk -O private

Voila! The .pem files will quickly be converted to PuTTY native file format. Users can connect via PuTTY to remote servers from local systems using the newly created .ppk files on both Windows and Unix.

Connect Using PuTTY

Once the .pem file is converted .ppk then users can connect to remote hosts using PuTTY’s SSH client. Below are steps to launch a PuTTY session.

  1. First, open PuTTY and input the host IP address. Please note that an SSL VPN connection must be established if the connection is to with 10.X private address.
  2. Now, from the category pane, navigate to Connection and expand SSH and the Auth.
  3. Click on ‘Browse’ and select the newly converted .ppk file, that was generated using PuTTYgen.
  4. Now to commence the PuTTY session, choose the option ‘open.’

Note: If the remote and local hosts connect for the first time using PuTTY then the application will pop up a dialog box confirming the authenticity of the connection. It just provides an added layer of security, so click ‘Yes’ when it appears.

Transferring Files Using PuTTY

Interestingly, one can also use PuTTY applications another component the PuTTY Secure Copy client (PSCP) to transfer files to remote servers. The PSCP is a Secure copy protocol (SCP) client that enables secure transfer of files from localhost to remote hosts.

If users are not comfortable using the command-line tool they can choose another Graphic user interface-based SCP client. One of the notable is WinSCP – an open-source multi-protocol supportive application for Microsoft Windows.

Ppk file putty

Back to PSCP, users are required to use the private key they generated while converting the .pem file to the .ppk file.

Converting a .pem file to a .ppk using PuTTYgen may now seem simple. The above information also briefs users on using PuTTY’s SSH client to connect virtual servers with local machines.

Using a Public/Private key to authenticate when logging into SSH can provide added convenience or added security. The Public/Private key can be used in place of a password so that no username/password is required to connect to the server via SSH. Instead the unique public and private key provide the secure authentication. The keys may also be generated with a different password from your cpanel password if desired.

  1. In the Bluehost cPanel click on the SSH/Shell Access icon under the Security category.
  2. Open the Manage SSH Keys tool.
  3. Click Generate a New Key and complete the fields shown. We recommend the RSA key type and a 4096 bit key size for maximum security.
    Note: There is bug in cPanel at this time that does not allow you to create a 2048 or 4096 bit DSA key
  4. The location of the newly generated public and private key will be shown as well as the key fingerprint.
  5. Click Go Back.
  6. Next to the Public Key you generated, click Manage Authorization then click Authorize to activate this public key.
  7. Click Go Back.
  8. To the right of the Private Key, click on View/Download. Then click the Download Key button. Save the file to your computer and click go back.

Putty Generate Ppk From Private Key Location

You may now use the private key saved on your computer to SSH securely to our server. If you are using PuTTY, please see the configuration steps below.

Generate a ppk file

  1. Download and open PuTTYgen from the PuTTY Download Page
  2. Click Load

  3. Locate the private SSH key that you have downloaded.
    4. Note: You will need choose to display All Files* from the menu to the right of the File Name field.
  4. Enter the password for your SSH Key


  5. Click the Save private key button to create the ppk file.

Configuring PuTTY

  1. In PuTTY, under Session, enter your Host Name

  2. Under Connection choose Data
  3. Enter your cPanel username as the Auto-login username


  4. Under SSH, choose 2 from Preferred SSH Protocol Version
  5. Under SSH -> Auth, you will need to specify where your private key can be found. Remember this is where you saved the private key on your local computer. Click Browse to locate the file on your computer.

  6. Under Sessions, type a name (such as 'my site') in the Saved Sessions box and click Save.
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Putty Use Ppk


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