Windows Tips

How to use PuTTY as an SSH agent

Generate key via PuTTYgen:

• Select EdDSA (Ed25519) if the target server supports it

• Click Generate

• Fill in a passphrase (quite important)

• Save the private key to a good location (e.g. C:\Users\user\.ssh\id_ed25519.ppk)

Load the key into Pageant:

• Create a desktop (or Startup) link:

  "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\pageant.exe" "C:\Users\user\.ssh\id_ed25519.ppk"
  

• When run, it will ask for the passphrase, then keep running in the background (see taskbar icon)

Configure tools to use Pageant:

• PuTTY uses it by default (check Connection / SSH / Auth / Attempt authentication using Pageant)

• Mercurial: Add to "C:\Users\user\mercurial.ini":

  [ui]
  ssh = "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\plink.exe" -2
  

• Clion: In Setting / SSH Configurations, add a configuration and select Authentication type: OpenSSH config and authentication agent, which will use Pageant on Windows