The following instructions explain how to connect to your instance using PuTTY, a free SSH client for Windows. If you receive an error while attempting to connect to your instance, see Troubleshooting Connecting to Your Instance.
- Mac OS X has a built-in SSH client called Terminal which can be used to connect to remote servers. By default, Terminal.app is located in Applications > Utilities folder. Double-click on the icon to start the client.
- For Mac, you don’t need to install a SSH client since the default terminal features is the most hand SSH client you can find on Mac. For Windows, Putty, Filezilla and WinSCP are the names of the most popular SSH clients being used.
- Ssh using private pem file asking for password in server (not passphrase) Ask Question. Up vote 2 down vote favorite. I am trying to connect to a server using private pem file that I created. It was created using a passphrase that I know. SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received debug2: local client KEXINIT proposal debug2: KEX algorithms.
After you launch your instance, you can connect to it and use it the way that you'd use a computer sitting in front of you.
Download iTerminal - SSH Telnet Client and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. iTerminal is a simple yet very powerful SSH and Telnet client on your iPhone and iPad. You can connect to remote servers through SSH or Telnet with iTerminal. Best SSH Clients for Windows. A big missing piece in Windows is the lack of a Linux compatible shell. There are several top SSH clients that fill this void.
Note
After you launch an instance, it can take a few minutes for the instance to be ready so that you can connect to it. Check that your instance has passed its status checks. You can view this information in the Status Checks column on the Instances page.
Prerequisites
Before you connect to your Linux instance using PuTTY, complete the following prerequisites:
- Verify the general prerequisites for connecting to your instance.For more information, see General Prerequisites for Connecting to Your Instance.
- Install PuTTY on your local computer.Download and install PuTTY from the PuTTY download page. If you already have an older version of PuTTY installed, we recommend that you download the latest version. Be sure to install the entire suite.
- Convert your private key using PuTTYgenFor more information, see the following section.
Convert Your Private Key Using PuTTYgen
PuTTY does not natively support the private key format (.pem) generated by Amazon EC2. 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.
To convert your private key
Ssh Tool For Mac
- From the Start menu, choose All Programs, PuTTY, PuTTYgen.
- Under Type of key to generate, choose RSA.If you're using an older version of PuTTYgen, choose SSH-2 RSA.
- Choose Load. By default, PuTTYgen displays only files with the extension
.ppk
. To locate your.pem
file, select the option to display files of all types. - Select your
.pem
file for the key pair that you specified when you launched your instance and choose Open. Choose OK. - To save the key in the format that PuTTY can use, choose Save private key. PuTTYgen displays a warning about saving the key without a passphrase. Choose Yes.NoteA passphrase on a private key is an extra layer of protection. Even if your private key is discovered, it can't be used without the passphrase. The downside to using a passphrase is that it makes automation harder because human intervention is needed to log on to an instance, or to copy files to an instance.
- Specify the same name for the key that you used for the key pair (for example,
my-key-pair
). PuTTY automatically adds the.ppk
file extension.
Your private key is now in the correct format for use with PuTTY. You can now connect to your instance using PuTTY's SSH client.
Connecting to Your Linux Instance
Use the following procedure to connect to your Linux instance using PuTTY. You need the
.ppk
file that you created for your private key. If you receive an error while attempting to connect to your instance, see Troubleshooting Connecting to Your Instance. To connect to your instance using PuTTY
- Start PuTTY (from the Start menu, choose All Programs, PuTTY, PuTTY).
- In the Category pane, choose Session and complete the following fields:
- In the Host Name box, enter
user_name
@public_dns_name
(see Get Information About Your Instance for how to get the public DNS name of the instance). Be sure to specify the appropriate user name for your AMI. For example:- For Amazon Linux 2 or the Amazon Linux AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
. - For a CentOS AMI, the user name is
centos
. - For a Debian AMI, the user name is
admin
orroot
. - For a Fedora AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orfedora
. - For a RHEL AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orroot
. - For a SUSE AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orroot
. - For an Ubuntu AMI, the user name is
ubuntu
. - Otherwise, if
ec2-user
androot
don't work, check with the AMI provider.
- (IPv6 only) To connect using your instance's IPv6 address, enter
user_name
@ipv6_address
. Be sure to specify the appropriate user name for your AMI. For example:- For Amazon Linux 2 or the Amazon Linux AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
. - For a CentOS AMI, the user name is
centos
. - For a Debian AMI, the user name is
admin
orroot
. - For a Fedora AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orfedora
. - For a RHEL AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orroot
. - For a SUSE AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orroot
. - For an Ubuntu AMI, the user name is
ubuntu
. - Otherwise, if
ec2-user
androot
don't work, check with the AMI provider.
- Under Connection type, select SSH.
- Ensure that the Port value is 22.
- (Optional) You can configure PuTTY to automatically send 'keepalive' data at regular intervals to keep the session active. This is useful to avoid disconnecting from your instance due to session inactivity. In the Category pane, choose Connection, and then enter the required interval in the Seconds between keepalives field. For example, if your session disconnects after 10 minutes of inactivity, enter 180 to configure PuTTY to send keepalive data every 3 minutes.
- In the Category pane, expand Connection, expand SSH, and then choose Auth. Complete the following:
- Choose Browse.
- Select the
.ppk
file that you generated for your key pair and choose Open. - (Optional) If you plan to start this session again later, you can save the session information for future use. Under Category, choose Session, enter a name for the session in Saved Sessions, and then choose Save.
- Choose Open.
- If this is the first time you have connected to this instance, PuTTY displays a security alert dialog box that asks whether you trust the host to which you are connecting.
- (Optional) Verify that the fingerprint in the security alert dialog box matches the fingerprint that you previously obtained in (Optional) Get the Instance Fingerprint. If these fingerprints don't match, someone might be attempting a 'man-in-the-middle' attack. If they match, continue to the next step.
- Choose Yes. A window opens and you are connected to your instance.NoteIf you specified a passphrase when you converted your private key to PuTTY's format, you must provide that passphrase when you log in to the instance.
If you receive an error while attempting to connect to your instance, see Troubleshooting Connecting to Your Instance.
Transferring Files to Your Linux Instance Using the PuTTY Secure Copy Client
The PuTTY Secure Copy client (PSCP) is a command line tool that you can use to transfer files between your Windows computer and your Linux instance. If you prefer a graphical user interface (GUI), you can use an open source GUI tool named WinSCP. For more information, see Transferring Files to Your Linux Instance Using WinSCP.
To use PSCP, you need the private key you generated in Convert Your Private Key Using PuTTYgen. You also need the public DNS address of your Linux instance.
The following example transfers the file
Sample_file.txt
from the C: drive on a Windows computer to the ec2-user
home directory on an Amazon Linux instance: (IPv6 only) The following example transfers the file
Sample_file.txt
using the instance's IPv6 address. The IPv6 address must be enclosed in square brackets ([]). Transferring Files to Your Linux Instance Using WinSCP
WinSCP is a GUI-based file manager for Windows that allows you to upload and transfer files to a remote computer using the SFTP, SCP, FTP, and FTPS protocols. WinSCP allows you to drag and drop files from your Windows machine to your Linux instance or synchronize entire directory structures between the two systems.
To use WinSCP, you need the private key that you generated in Convert Your Private Key Using PuTTYgen. You also need the public DNS address of your Linux instance.
- Download and install WinSCP from http://winscp.net/eng/download.php. For most users, the default installation options are OK.
- Start WinSCP.
- At the WinSCP login screen, for Host name, enter the public DNS hostname or public IPv4 address for your instance.(IPv6 only) To log in using your instance's IPv6 address, enter the IPv6 address for your instance.
- For User name, enter the default user name for your AMI.
- For Amazon Linux 2 or the Amazon Linux AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
. - For a CentOS AMI, the user name is
centos
. - For a Debian AMI, the user name is
admin
orroot
. - For a Fedora AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orfedora
. - For a RHEL AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orroot
. - For a SUSE AMI, the user name is
ec2-user
orroot
. - For an Ubuntu AMI, the user name is
ubuntu
. - Otherwise, if
ec2-user
androot
don't work, check with the AMI provider.
- Specify the private key for your instance. For Private key, enter the path to your private key, or choose the '...' button to browse for the file. To open the advanced site settings, for newer versions of WinSCP, choose Advanced. To find the Private key file setting, under SSH, choose Authentication.Here is a screenshot from WinSCP version 5.9.4:WinSCP requires a PuTTY private key file (
.ppk
). You can convert a.pem
security key file to the.ppk
format using PuTTYgen. For more information, see Convert Your Private Key Using PuTTYgen. - (Optional) In the left panel, choose Directories. For Remote directory, enter the path for the directory to which to add files. To open the advanced site settings for newer versions of WinSCP, choose Advanced. To find the Remote directory setting, under Environment, choose Directories.
- Choose Login. To add the host fingerprint to the host cache, choose Yes.
- After the connection is established, in the connection window your Linux instance is on the right and your local machine is on the left. You can drag and drop files directly into the remote file system from your local machine. For more information on WinSCP, see the project documentation at http://winscp.net/eng/docs/start.If you receive a 'Cannot execute SCP to start transfer' error, you must first install scp on your Linux instance. For some operating systems, this is located in the
openssh-clients
package. For Amazon Linux variants, such as the Amazon ECS-optimized AMI, use the following command to install scp.
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Best SSH clients for Windows | Price | License | Platforms |
---|---|---|---|
KiTTY | Free | - | - |
PuTTY | Free | - | - |
ZOC Terminal | $79.99 | - | - |
Shell NGN - Web Based SSH Client | $5.90 | - | - |
SSH of Windows' Linux subsystem | Free | - | - |
KiTTY
Sessions filter Shortcuts for pre-defined command The session launcher Automatic logon script URL hyperlinks Running a locally saved script on a remote session Send to tray Transparency Quick start of a duplicate session SSH Handler: Internet Explorer integration pscp.exe and WinSCP integration New command-line options See More
Each session holds its own configuration of all features. This means that if one wants to change a configuration common to all sessions (say, the terminal font), it has to be changed in each stored session separately. A better solution would be to have a default configuration and store only the changed elements for each session (both configurations would be merged, with e priority on the specific one). See More
This one worked out of the box with my server deployed to UpCloud provider See More
Support start-up sessions which allow you to specify the window/tab layout, working directories, and programs to run on startup. See More
![Ssh Client For Mac .pem Ssh Client For Mac .pem](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126557751/503603929.png)
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PuTTY
See More
Anyway, you can use 'PuTTYgen' to generate a key pair, then use 'Pageant' to do a password-less SSH remote login. See More
absolutly horrible if you come from linux. See More
PuTTY is one of the oldest and most popular clients. It has earned the trust of a great number of users over a long period by being reliable, offering useful features and helpful support. It got into the 15 Essential Open Source Tools for Windows Admins list by InfoWorld. See More
It is JUST an SSH client. There are many other options with built in X-servers, Multitabbing, etc. See More
Full source available. Compile and modify it yourself. See More
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Its tedious to set up logging and tracing (e.g. for serial connections). See More
Doesn't require much resources (memory and hard-disk). Can even be run on a system by just downloading without install. See More
If you want to change a setting for all your connections, you'd have to do it individually. See More
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ZOC Terminal
The user interface is modern and up to date. See More
It has so many options that it's hard to find the one you need. See More
use it already for many years... See More
MacOS and Windows version share the same config files (even over Dropbox). See More
They don't have a free version, but you can download it and check it out for 30 days. See More
Extremely reliabe. Does the job. See More
Once you get the hang of scripting, it saves a lot of time (more than invested in learning). See More
Without an integrated x server , you must download a separate x server, configure it and ensure it is running everytime you need to use a such a GUI application. See More
First rate, rock solid performer with excellent stability and security and a full suite of emulations. I have been using ZOC since Version 1.0 and have never had a problem. See More
ZOC Terminal offers a thumbnail view of all session where you can type commands to all sessions at and see all the results at once. See More
And lack of information online. It's hard to see the cursor and find how to change cursor style in settings. The color theme is the same story. See More
Regular updates See More
Their website has a description on how to make a portable installation. See More
Originally developed for OS/2 (as Zap-O-Comm), Zoc is currently available for Windows and Macintosh. See More
Lets you drag files into the terminal window to send them to the server. Has a download function where you just type the name of the file to receive. See More
Offers a thumbnail view of all sessions in thumbnails and type commands to all sessions at the same time. See More
Tabbed sessions mean that multiple items can be contained within a single window and can be easily navigated by the user. See More
Feature to search for text bits in the data stream and highlight them with color/background. See More
Can transfer files through a terminal session without launching another window or application. Can even drag-drop files into the terminal to transfer. See More
Zoc allows for every UI component except the title bar to be hidden. All features are accessible through the context menu. See More
Zoc provides complete automation of the client using its macro scripting. See More
It offers some emulations (like IBM 3270 or i/Series 5250) that are only available on macOS in old and/or bare bones implementations. Others, like QNX, are not available at all. See More
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In addition to telnet, ssh, and rlogin, ZOC supports direct serial connections, modem dialing, and named pipes. See More
It's an actual terminal emulator (in the sense that it emulates a terminal) and not just a local console window app. See More
You can map/redefine every key (including combinations with Ctr, Alt, etc.) to do anything (send text, start scripts, emulate key, ...) See More
Shell NGN - Web Based SSH Client
AllPros5
Cons Since this tool is cloud-based, there's no need to download and install anything. You can simpy run it from the browser. See More
Not enough options to trim it to your needs. See More
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It's ok for a quick session, but compared to native apps it's output is slow. See More
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SSH of Windows' Linux subsystem
All you have to do is go to the Microsoft store, choose a Linux distro you like, and install the client for free. See More
For example running Midnight commander (MC) makes terminal blinking. See More
Great for little things like run some manual scripts and explore some Linux strengths. But does not support backgroud jobs with the session open, or jobs running on crontab, etc... It's a great step from Microsoft (good one), but it is yet, limited. They must improve the Linux Subsystem capabilities. Windows 10 Pro WSL also does not run on Virtual Machines. See More
OpenSSH is the reference for all ssh clients. See More
Any other SSH client will render the remote server at whatever size the local client window is. The built-in SSH client on Windows, however, forces you to use a standard size, and it's small enough to cause problems. See More
Uses all relevant Linux ssh commands as normal. See More
Crontab only runs on ROOT, and it needs Windows to stay open. If you close it, you will kill the crontab. Some background jobs don't run on Windows WSL. See More
It is much easier and more convenient than dealing with a dual boot Linux installation. See More
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MobaXterm
In this one app, you get a combination of network tools, an embedded X server, security tools, a variety of plugins and add-ons, and more. Moreover, if you want to get this software for personal use, it comes for free. See More
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I Love it! Just showed it off to a client again today See More
It's built in XServer, for running remote GUI apps locally. See More
Every part looks a bit different which can be confusing. See More
This is an mazing program! Wish there was a Mac version! See More
With MobaXterm, there's no fiddling with multiple apps: simply connect and everything is available. See More
A packet of a bunch of network-related things. The ssh client is just one component of many (among X11, RDP, SSH server and others), and not a very good one. See More
Manipulate and edit remote files in the file browser. See More
If you use MobaXterm at work, they hope you will pay for it. This isn't horrifying, but it's not providing any new features in Linux to warrant the outlay. Its integration with Putty in Windows as an X client may make it worth the funds. See More
MobaXterm can connect to practically anything. See More
If you split a screen within a tab, you have to go back to single screen before you can switch to another tab. See More
In case you need X11 forwarding, MobaXterm has an integrated X server. See More
MobaXterm can have some occasional performance issues. These happen rarely but it's worth mentioning that they exist, especially since this is a paid tool. See More
And you can install conda for additional package management. See More
It's an only Windows software, it will not work on any other platform. Misses the Mac OSX, Linux, Android, and iOS. See More
Multiple terminals can either be in tabs or split horizontally or vertically. See More
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You can edit remote files via ssh and sftp. See More
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The Personal edition is free to use. See More
Very practical when you are on a client's machine - you can run it off a USB stick or directly from the download without installing anything See More
Mouse wheel can be used for scrolling in most programs, such as less, vim, nano, etc. See More
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It has built-in import/export facilities. It can import existing session from putty, superputty, scrt, exceed, mremote, puttycm. See More
Integrates perfectly with the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Out of the box it offers a shell to that system. See More
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Bitvise SSH Client
The client comes with built-in SFTP window to easily move files between the client and the server. See More
Why not have a panel to show saved profiles that the user can easily to open sessions? See More
Has lots of features and always works :) See More
The SSH client software is free without any limitations. See More
windows is best on gui, so bitvise is befited See More
Bitvise is one of the few SSH clients that offers all features free for all types of users, including organizations. At the same time, there are no compromises in terms of functionality. It has an advanced GUI, corporation-wide single sign-on, learning resources including guides and FAQs, and other features. See More
Well been using for 3 years after being a filezilla user from 4 years just got tired of it (FZ) and it is a great SFTP client which also allows to use SSH in a simple way. See More
Profiles can be used to save connection information and connection specific settings. See More
ssh of Cygwin
AllPros1
ConsSee More
So you can have handy UI with tabs and other features. (For tab-like experience there is also GNU screen). See More
SecureCRT
AllPros2
Cons Paid product. Some nice additional Cygwin type features and server version are integrated, but for most users the feature set probably does add enough value for a paid only client. See More
SecureCRT has strong data encryption and secure authentication through the support of password and public keys. See More
Has a Python API to control most aspects of the terminal and sessions. Scripts can be bound to buttons, menu items, and keyboard shortcuts. See More
SuperPuTTY
AllPros5
Cons SuperPuTTY is a wrapper available for PuTTY, not a standalone program, therefore you need to have a PuTTY installation before you can use SuperPuTTY. See More
By setting up certain shortcuts you can quickly bring up your sessions, select one by typing out the first letters, return-selecting it and cycle through your tabs. See More
Dynamic placement of tabs side-by-side vertically or horizontally (similar to IDEs like Eclipse/Visual Studio). This is an upgrade of the original PuTTY, which lacks this feature. See More
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Since it uses PuTTY underneath you can create and configure profiles/sessions there which you can reuse in SuperPuTTY and apply to connection in any fashion you like. See More
Open source and hosted on Github. See More
Terminus
This helps the community to move software forward and to make it even better. See More
It's huge. The amount of resources it consumes is not justifiable. See More
It's what I always wanted Hyper to be. See More
License:MIT
A lot of things can be easily configured, e.g. color theme, size, window frame behavior, tab location, cursor style, hotkeys, etc. See More
$9.99 monthly, or $59.99 a year See More
It's only 64-bit machines See More
Even the question was '...for Windows', it's nice if you can use your tools over different platforms. See More
The Windows installer errors out and the portable version hangs after you have made config changes and it wants to restart to apply them. The fact that it's electron based may be contributing to these issues. See More
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Terminus is a free and open source software with clean and modern UI, as opposed to numerous proprietary SSH clients out there with an outdated and unintuitive interface. See More
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Free Ssh Client For Mac
Hyper development has basically stalled out. See More
Even the question was '...for Windows', it's nice if you can use your tools over different platforms. See More
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WinSCP
AllPros8
Cons Does not support shell access (only file transfer). Good software indeed, but not a good match for this question. See More
WinSCP has comprehensive and detailed documentation on their website which explains everything from installation to configuration, using all the tools, troubleshooting, and dealing with the most common errors. See More
WinSCP is more geared towards FTP tasks. See More
Supports SSH File Transfer Protocol and legacy Secure Copy Protocol allowing you to copy files securely. See More
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In new versions also supports WebDav. See More
It has very good compatibility with the other tools of this segment (e.g. PuTTY). See More
No Installation required. See More
![Ssh Client For Mac .pem Ssh Client For Mac .pem](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126557751/494544587.png)
WinSSHTerm
AllPros10
Cons One of the best ssh client to connect many server. See More
You need to install PuTTY, WinSCP, Pagent, etc. to get the full functionality of the tool. This is basically just a nice GUI for those tools. See More
The open source tool 'Migrate2WinSSHTerm' is available to help migrating from other SSH clients to WinSSHTerm. See More
You can use WinSSHTerm as a productivity booster for PuTTY/KiTTY, which allows you to have a multi-tab layout, customizable interface, keyboard shortcuts, as well as many others free and some premium features. See More
A shared connections file can be loaded by multiple users. It can be customized by using variables. See More
Set different background colors for environments like PROD, STAGE, DEV. See More
The user can start a WinSCP session inside WinSSHTerm, without the need to duplicate the session in WinSCP. See More
WinSSHTerm is free for anyone to use. See More
Keyboard shortcuts are especially valuable for professionals. See More
The user can run WinSSHTerm from a USB drive on different computers. See More
There is easy, automatic integration with X Server and starts/stops can take place with the launch/exit of WinSSHTerm. See More
Xshell 6
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The subscription costs $89 per year. See More
Ssh Client For Mac
too expensive~~!!! See More
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Any portable version present is wrapper. It moves files from portable folder to appdata and backward, which often cause dataloss See More
Ssh Client For Mac Pem File
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Xshell 6 caters to enterprises with features such as multi-tab UI, dynamic port forwarding, scripting support, support for ASCII as well as non-ASCII characters, etc. See More
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Channel monitoring and dynamic port forwarding. See More
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Chrome SSH Extension
AllPros2
Cons Easy to add and save connections. Once saved, just double click connections that you want to use, then off you go with your thing! See More
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Despite being a browser extension, you can use the SSH App without Internet connection. See More
Sollar PuTTY
AllPros1
Cons In additional to regular PuTTY features you get multi-tab interface, auto-login, quick access to recent sessions, integration of Windows Search, and other useful features. See More
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OpenSSH
FileZilla
AllPros4
ConsSpecs FileZilla is free open-source software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License free of charge. Basically this means that everyone, including corporate entities, can use FileZilla, including but not limited to private, educational and commercial use. See More
Doesn't encrypt saved passwords. See More
Platforms:Windows
Ssh Client For Mac Pem Windows
FileZilla Howto. See More
In addition to Windows, FileZilla client is available for Unix, OSX and Linux. See More
FileZilla Server is a server that supports FTP and FTP over SSL/TLS which provides secure encrypted connections to the server. Note that SFTP and FTPS are different things, FTPS is simpler in use, SFTP needs Secure Shell. More information. See More
Poderosa
Poderosa developers take it seriously for users to get pleasure from using their software. You can get a multi-tab view, customizable UI down to the text cursor animation, code autocomplete based on your command history. If you're a Macbook user, you can use the Touch bar with Poderosa. See More
Termius (formerly ServerAuditor)
AllPros6
ConsSpecsSee More
See More
Platforms:Windows Linux Mac IOS Android
Termius is a great client if you intend to use it on several devices. It is vailable for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and Mac OSX. It is well-integrated for mobile platforms, with swipe gesture support, useful hotkeys and key combinations, as well as the possibility to use it with and external keyboard. See More
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