To connect to your instance using OpenSSH

1. In PowerShell or the Command Prompt, use the ssh command to connect to the instance. You specify the path and file name of the private key (.pem), the username for your instance, and the public DNS name or IPv6 address for your instance. For more information about how to find the private key, the username for your instance, and the DNS name or IPv6 address for an instance, see Locate the private key and set permissions and Get information about your instance. To connect to your instance, use one of the following commands.
   • (Public DNS) To connect using your instance’s public DNS name, enter the following command.

     ssh -i /path/key-pair-name.pem instance-user-name@instance-public-dns-name

   • (IPv6) Alternatively, if your instance has an IPv6 address, to connect using your instance’s IPv6 address, enter the following command.

     ssh -i /path/key-pair-name.pem instance-user-name@instance-IPv6-address

   You see a response like the following:

   The authenticity of host 'ec2-198-51-100-1.compute-1.amazonaws.com (198-51-100-1)' can't be established.
   ECDSA key fingerprint is l4UB/neBad9tvkgJf1QZWxheQmR59WgrgzEimCG6kZY.
   Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

2. (Optional) Verify that the fingerprint in the security alert 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.
3. Enter yes.You see a response like the following:

   Warning: Permanently added 'ec2-198-51-100-1.compute-1.amazonaws.com' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.

To convert your private .pem key to .ppk

1. From the Start menu, choose All Programs, PuTTY, PuTTYgen.
2. Under Type of key to generate, choose RSA. If your version of PuTTYgen does not include this option, choose SSH-2 RSA.
   
3. Choose Load. By default, PuTTYgen displays only files with the extension .ppk. To locate your .pem file, choose the option to display files of all types.
   
4. Select your .pem file for the key pair that you specified when you launched your instance and choose Open. PuTTYgen displays a notice that the .pem file was successfully imported. Choose OK.
5. 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.

   Note

   A 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.

6. Specify the same name for the key that you used for the key pair (for example, key-pair-name) and choose Save. PuTTY automatically adds the .ppk file extension.

To connect to your instance using PuTTY

1. Start PuTTY (from the Start menu, search for PuTTY and then choose Open).
2. In the Category pane, choose Session and complete the following fields:
   1. In the Host Name box, do one of the following:
      • (Public DNS) To connect using your instance’s public DNS name, enter instance-user-name@instance-public-dns-name.
      • (IPv6) Alternatively, if your instance has an IPv6 address, to connect using your instance’s IPv6 address, enter instance-user-name@instance-IPv6-address.

      For information about how to get the username for your instance, and the public DNS name or IPv6 address of your instance, see Get information about your instance.

   2. Ensure that the Port value is 22.
   3. Under Connection type, select SSH.
   
3. (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 Seconds between keepalives. For example, if your session disconnects after 10 minutes of inactivity, enter 180 to configure PuTTY to send keepalive data every 3 minutes.
4. In the Category pane, expand Connection, SSH, and Auth. Choose Credentials.
5. Next to Private key file for authentication, choose Browse. In the Select private key file dialog box, select the .ppk file that you generated for your key pair. You can either double-click the file or choose Open in the Select private key file dialog box.
6. (Optional) If you plan to connect to this instance again after this session, you can save the session information for future use. In the Category pane, choose Session. Enter a name for the session in Saved Sessions, and then choose Save.
7. To connect to the instance, choose Open.
8. 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.
   1. (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.
   2. Choose Accept. A window opens and you are connected to your instance.

      Note

      If you specified a passphrase when you converted your private key to the PuTTY format, you must provide that passphrase when you log in to the instance.

To connect to your instance using WinSCP

1. Download and install WinSCP from http://winscp.net/eng/download.php. For most users, the default installation options are OK.
2. Start WinSCP.
3. At the WinSCP login screen, for Host name, enter one of the following:
   • (Public DNS or IPv4 address) To log in using your instance’s public DNS name or public IPv4 address, enter the public DNS name or public IPv4 address for your instance.
   • (IPv6) Alternatively, if your instance has an IPv6 address, to log in using your instance’s IPv6 address, enter the IPv6 address for your instance.
4. For User name, enter the default username for your AMI.
   • For AL2023, Amazon Linux 2, or the Amazon Linux AMI, the user name is ec2-user.
   • For a CentOS AMI, the user name is centos or ec2-user.
   • For a Debian AMI, the user name is admin.
   • For a Fedora AMI, the user name is fedora or ec2-user.
   • For a RHEL AMI, the user name is ec2-user or root.
   • For a SUSE AMI, the user name is ec2-user or root.
   • For an Ubuntu AMI, the user name is ubuntu.
   • For an Oracle AMI, the user name is ec2-user.
   • For a Bitnami AMI, the user name is bitnami.

   Note

   To find the default user name for other Linux distributions, check with the AMI provider.

5. Specify the private key file for your instance.
   1. Choose the Advanced… button.
   2. Under SSH, choose Authentication.
   3. Specify the path for your private key file, or choose the … button to browse to the key pair file.
   4. Choose OK.

   Here is a screenshot from WinSCP version 6.1:

   

   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.

6. (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.
7. Choose Login. To add the host fingerprint to the host cache, choose Yes.
   
8. 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 between the remote file system and your local machine. For more information on WinSCP, see the project documentation at http://winscp.net/eng/docs/start.If you receive an error that you cannot run SCP to start the transfer, verify that you installed scp on the Linux instance.