Public-key authentication with PuTTY

This tutorial describes how to use PuTTY to configure SSH authentication based on a public key and how to authenticate at the device.

Start PuTTY.
In the window that opens, enter the host name or the IP address of the device and set the Connection type to the option SSH. The default port for SSH connections is 22.
Switch to the Connection > Data dialog and, in the input field Auto-login username, enter the user name for the public key you created previously (e.g. root).
Switch to the Connection > SSH > Auth dialog and, in the input field Private key file for authentication, enter the path and file name of the private-key file you created especially for PuTTY.
Then click on Open. PuTTY then attempts to establish a connection while using SSH authentication by public key.

Note: If you have protected your private key file with an optional passphrase, PuTTY will ask you for this as part of the authentication process.

That's it!