SSH with PuTTY and Your First Server Setup

SSH is the standard way to manage a Linux server. On Windows 10 and newer you can connect without installing anything, while PuTTY is still popular for saved sessions and key management.

Quick connection from Windows Terminal

ssh root@SERVER_IP

If you use a non-default port, add -p:

ssh -p 2222 root@SERVER_IP

Connecting with PuTTY

1. Download PuTTY from its official site and open it.
2. Enter your server IP in Host Name and the SSH port (22 by default) in Port.
3. Type a name under Saved Sessions and click Save to keep the connection.
4. Click Open and enter your username and password. Nothing appears while typing the password; that is normal.

On the first connection you are asked to confirm the server fingerprint. This marks the server as known and is asked only once.

SSH keys instead of passwords

Key-based login is both safer and more convenient. Generate a key on your own computer:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "server"

Then copy the public key to the server:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub root@SERVER_IP

With PuTTY you create the key in PuTTYgen and add the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server.

First settings after installation

• Update the system: apt update && apt upgrade on Debian/Ubuntu, dnf update on AlmaLinux.
• Create an admin user: do daily work with a sudo user instead of root.
• Enable the firewall: allow only the ports you use (SSH, web, game ports).
• Set the time zone: timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Istanbul keeps your logs on the right clock.
• Change the SSH port: it dramatically reduces automated password attempts.

Transferring files over SSH

The same connection can carry files. From the command line:

scp file.zip root@SERVER_IP:/root/

If you prefer a graphical tool, WinSCP uses the same details as PuTTY and gives you a two-pane file manager. To pull a file back to your computer, reverse it:

scp root@SERVER_IP:/root/backup.tar.gz .

Prevent dropped sessions

If the connection drops during a long job (an update, a build, a backup) the command dies with it. Two fixes:

• Keepalive: in PuTTY, set "Seconds between keepalives" to 30 under Connection so idle sessions are not dropped.
• screen or tmux: run the command inside one of these and the job continues on the server even if you disconnect; reconnect and reattach.

screen -S backup
# start the command, then press Ctrl+A followed by D to detach
screen -r backup

Useful first commands

Transferring files over SSH

The same connection can carry files. From the command line:

scp file.zip root@SERVER_IP:/root/

If you prefer a graphical tool, WinSCP uses the same details as PuTTY and gives you a two-pane file manager. To pull a file back to your computer, reverse it:

scp root@SERVER_IP:/root/backup.tar.gz .

Prevent dropped sessions

If the connection drops during a long job (an update, a build, a backup) the command dies with it. Two fixes:

• Keepalive: in PuTTY, set "Seconds between keepalives" to 30 under Connection so idle sessions are not dropped.
• screen or tmux: run the command inside one of these and the job continues on the server even if you disconnect; reconnect and reattach.

screen -S backup
# start the command, then press Ctrl+A followed by D to detach
screen -r backup

Useful first commands

Connection problems

"Connection refused" usually means the wrong port or an SSH service that is not running. "Connection timed out" points to a firewall or the wrong IP. If the server was just created, wait for installation to finish.