page}, and see if you can find the feature there. If it's on there,
it probably \e{hasn't} been implemented.
-\S{faq-ssh2} Does PuTTY support SSH v2?
+\S{faq-ssh2}{question} Does PuTTY support SSH v2?
Yes. SSH v2 support has been available in PuTTY since version 0.50.
However, currently the \e{default} SSH protocol is v1; to select SSH
Public key authentication (both RSA and DSA) in SSH v2 has been
added since version 0.51.
-\S{faq-ssh2-keyfmt} Does PuTTY support reading OpenSSH or
+\S{faq-ssh2-keyfmt}{question} Does PuTTY support reading OpenSSH or
\cw{ssh.com} SSHv2 private key files?
Not at present. OpenSSH and \cw{ssh.com} have totally different
pleasant, so PuTTY has its own. We do plan to write a converter at
some stage.
-\S{faq-ssh1} Does PuTTY support SSH v1?
+\S{faq-ssh1}{question} Does PuTTY support SSH v1?
Yes. SSH 1 support has always been available in PuTTY.
-\S{faq-localecho} Does PuTTY support local echo?
+\S{faq-localecho}{question} Does PuTTY support local echo?
Yes.
enabled or disabled as you choose. The controls are in the Terminal
panel, in the section marked \q{Line discipline options}.
-\S{faq-disksettings} Does PuTTY support storing its settings in a
-disk file?
+\S{faq-disksettings}{question} Does PuTTY support storing its
+settings in a disk file?
Not at present, although \k{config-file} in the documentation gives
a method of achieving the same effect.
-\S{faq-fullscreen} Does PuTTY support full-screen mode, like a DOS
-box?
+\S{faq-fullscreen}{question} Does PuTTY support full-screen mode,
+like a DOS box?
Not in the 0.51 release, but it has been added since then.
-\S{faq-password} Does PuTTY have the ability to remember my password
-so I don't have to type it every time?
+\S{faq-password}{question} Does PuTTY have the ability to remember
+my password so I don't have to type it every time?
No, it doesn't.
\k{pubkey} in the documentation for a full discussion of public key
authentication.
-\S{faq-hostkeys} Is there an option to turn off the annoying host
-key prompts?
+\S{faq-hostkeys}{question} Is there an option to turn off the
+annoying host key prompts?
No, there isn't. And there won't be. Even if you write it yourself
and send us the patch, we won't accept it.
ones will not. Adding an option to turn host key checking off
completely is the wrong solution and we will not do it.
-\S{faq-server} Will you write an SSH server for the PuTTY suite, to
-go with the client?
+\S{faq-server}{question} Will you write an SSH server for the PuTTY
+suite, to go with the client?
No. The only reason we might want to would be if we could easily
re-use existing code and significantly cut down the effort. We don't
Mode is universal and shouldn't need to be specified once for each
platform.
-\S{faq-wince} Will there be a port to Windows CE?
+\S{faq-wince}{question} Will there be a port to Windows CE?
Probably not in the particularly near future. Despite sharing large
parts of the Windows API, in practice WinCE doesn't appear to be
However, PuTTY on portable devices would clearly be a useful thing,
so in the long term I hope there will be a WinCE port.
-\S{faq-mac} Will there be a port to the Mac?
+\S{faq-mac}{question} Will there be a port to the Mac?
A Mac port was started once and is half-finished, but development
has been static for some time and the main PuTTY code has moved on,
so it's not clear how quickly development would resume even if
developer effort were available.
-\S{faq-unix} Will there be a port to Unix?
+\S{faq-unix}{question} Will there be a port to Unix?
I hope so, if only so that I can have an \cw{xterm}-like program
that supports exactly the same terminal emulation as PuTTY. If and
it can be used like an \cw{xterm}, rather than only being usable as
a network utility.
-\S{faq-epoc} Will there be a port to EPOC?
+\S{faq-epoc}{question} Will there be a port to EPOC?
I hope so, but given that ports aren't really progressing very fast
even on systems the developers \e{do} already know how to program
\H{faq-embedding} Embedding PuTTY in other programs
-\S{faq-dll} Is the SSH or Telnet code available as a DLL?
+\S{faq-dll}{question} Is the SSH or Telnet code available as a DLL?
No, it isn't. It would take a reasonable amount of rewriting for
this to be possible, and since the PuTTY project itself doesn't
Most of the code cleanup work would be a good thing to happen in
general, so if anyone feels like helping, we wouldn't say no.
-\S{faq-vb} Is the SSH or Telnet code available as a Visual Basic
-component?
+\S{faq-vb}{question} Is the SSH or Telnet code available as a Visual
+Basic component?
No, it isn't. None of the PuTTY team uses Visual Basic, and none of
us has any particular need to make SSH connections from a Visual
it, but unless that happens I can't see VB integration being
anywhere other than the very bottom of our priority list.
-\S{faq-ipc} How can I use PuTTY to make an SSH connection from
-within another program?
+\S{faq-ipc}{question} How can I use PuTTY to make an SSH connection
+from within another program?
Probably your best bet is to use Plink, the command-line connection
tool. If you can start Plink as a second Windows process, and
\H{faq-details} Details of PuTTY's operation
-\S{faq-term} What terminal type does PuTTY use?
+\S{faq-term}{question} What terminal type does PuTTY use?
For most purposes, PuTTY can be considered to be an \cw{xterm}
terminal, although full support for some of \cw{xterm}'s features,
\c{xterm}. If you have a problem with this, you can reconfigure it
to say something else; \c{vt220} might help if you have trouble.
-\S{faq-settings} Where does PuTTY store its data?
+\S{faq-settings}{question} Where does PuTTY store its data?
PuTTY stores most of its data (saved sessions, SSH host keys) in the
Registry. The precise location is
\H{faq-howto} HOWTO questions
-\S{faq-startmax} How can I make PuTTY start up maximised?
+\S{faq-startmax}{question} How can I make PuTTY start up maximised?
Create a Windows shortcut to start PuTTY from, and set it as \q{Run
Maximized}.
-\S{faq-startsess} How can I create a Windows shortcut to start a
-particular saved session directly?
+\S{faq-startsess}{question} How can I create a Windows shortcut to
+start a particular saved session directly?
To run a PuTTY session saved under the name \q{\cw{mysession}},
create a Windows shortcut that invokes PuTTY with a command line
\c \path\name\to\putty.exe @mysession
-\S{faq-startssh} How can I start an SSH session straight from the
-command line?
+\S{faq-startssh}{question} How can I start an SSH session straight
+from the command line?
Use the command line \c{putty -ssh host.name}. Alternatively, create
a saved session that specifies the SSH protocol, and start the saved
session as shown in \k{faq-startsess}.
-\S{faq-cutpaste} How do I copy and paste between PuTTY and other
-Windows applications?
+\S{faq-cutpaste}{question} How do I copy and paste between PuTTY and
+other Windows applications?
Copy and paste works similarly to the X Window System. You use the
left mouse button to select text in the PuTTY window. The act of
You can also paste by pressing Shift-Ins.
-\S{faq-tunnels} How do I use X forwarding and port forwarding? I
-can't find the Tunnels panel.
+\S{faq-tunnels}{question} How do I use X forwarding and port
+forwarding? I can't find the Tunnels panel.
If you're looking in the 0.51 release or earlier, the Tunnels panel
isn't there. It was added in the development snapshots after 0.51,
and releases 0.52 and onwards will contain it.
-\S{faq-options} How do I use all PuTTY's features (public keys, port
-forwarding, SSH v2, etc.) in PSCP, PSFTP and Plink?
+\S{faq-options}{question} How do I use all PuTTY's features (public
+keys, port forwarding, SSH v2, etc.) in PSCP, PSFTP and Plink?
The command-line tools are currently rather short of command line
options to enable this sort of thing. However, you can use most of
hostname. This works for PSCP, PSFTP and Plink (but don't expect
port forwarding in the file transfer applications!).
-\S{faq-pscp} How do I use PSCP.EXE? When I double-click it gives me
-a command prompt window which then closes instantly.
+\S{faq-pscp}{question} How do I use PSCP.EXE? When I double-click it
+gives me a command prompt window which then closes instantly.
PSCP is a command-line application, not a GUI application. If you
run it without arguments, it will simply print a help message and
To use PSCP properly, run it from a Command Prompt window. See
\k{pscp} in the documentation for more details.
-\S{faq-pscp-spaces} How do I use PSCP to copy a file whose name has
-spaces in?
+\S{faq-pscp-spaces}{question} How do I use PSCP to copy a file whose
+name has spaces in?
If PSCP is using the traditional SCP protocol, this is confusing. If
you're specifying a file at the local end, you just use one set of
\H{faq-trouble} Troubleshooting
-\S{faq-mac} Why do I see \q{Incorrect MAC received on packet}?
+\S{faq-mac}{question} Why do I see \q{Incorrect MAC received on
+packet}?
This is due to a bug in old SSH 2 servers distributed by
\cw{ssh.com}. Version 2.3.0 and below of their SSH 2 server
cryptographic term, and it has nothing at all to do with Ethernet
MAC (Media Access Control) addresses.
-\S{faq-colours} I clicked on a colour in the Colours panel, and the
-colour didn't change in my terminal.
+\S{faq-colours}{question} I clicked on a colour in the Colours
+panel, and the colour didn't change in my terminal.
That isn't how you're supposed to use the Colours panel.
only allow you to adjust the \e{shade} of green used when PuTTY is
instructed by the server to display green text.
-\S{faq-winsock2} Plink on Windows 95 says it can't find \cw{WS2_32.DLL}.
+\S{faq-winsock2}{question} Plink on Windows 95 says it can't find
+\cw{WS2_32.DLL}.
Plink requires the extended Windows network library, WinSock version
2. This is installed as standard on Windows 98 and above, and on
\c http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wuadmintools/
\c s_wunetworkingtools/w95sockets2/
-\S{faq-rekey} My PuTTY sessions close after an hour and tell me
-\q{Server failed host key check}.
+\S{faq-rekey}{question} My PuTTY sessions close after an hour and
+tell me \q{Server failed host key check}.
This is a bug in all versions of PuTTY up to and including 0.51. SSH
v2 servers from \cw{ssh.com} will require the key exchange to be
The bug has been fixed since version 0.51, so upgrading to a later
version or snapshot should solve the problem.
-\S{faq-outofmem} After trying to establish an SSH 2 connection,
-PuTTY says \q{Out of memory} and dies.
+\S{faq-outofmem}{question} After trying to establish an SSH 2
+connection, PuTTY says \q{Out of memory} and dies.
If this happens just while the connection is starting up, this often
indicates that for some reason the client and server have failed to
server instead); but it doesn't necessarily mean you've actually run
out of memory.
-\S{faq-bce} When I run full-colour applications, I see areas of
-black space where colour ought to be.
+\S{faq-bce}{question} When I run full-colour applications, I see
+areas of black space where colour ought to be.
You almost certainly need to enable the \q{Use background colour to
erase screen} setting in the Terminal panel. Note that if you do
this in mid-session, it won't take effect until you reset the
terminal (see \k{faq-resetterm}).
-\S{faq-resetterm} When I change some terminal settings, nothing
-happens.
+\S{faq-resetterm}{question} When I change some terminal settings,
+nothing happens.
Some of the terminal options (notably Auto Wrap and
background-colour screen erase) actually represent the \e{default}
session, you will find that the change does not immediately take
effect. It will only take effect once you reset the terminal.
-\S{faq-altgr} I can't type characters that require the AltGr key.
+\S{faq-altgr}{question} I can't type characters that require the
+AltGr key.
In PuTTY version 0.51, the AltGr key was broken. The bug has been
fixed since then.
-\S{faq-idleout} My PuTTY sessions unexpectedly close after they
-are idle for a while.
+\S{faq-idleout}{question} My PuTTY sessions unexpectedly close after
+they are idle for a while.
Some types of firewall, and almost any router doing Network Address
Translation (NAT, also known as IP masquerading), will forget about
\k{config-keepalive} in the documentation for more discussion of
this.
-\S{faq-timeout} PuTTY's network connections time out too quickly
-when network connectivity is temporarily lost.
+\S{faq-timeout}{question} PuTTY's network connections time out too
+quickly when network connectivity is temporarily lost.
This is a Windows problem, not a PuTTY problem. The timeout value
can't be set on per application or per session basis. To increase
Set the key's value to something like 10. This will cause Windows to
try harder to keep connections alive instead of abandoning them.
-\S{faq-puttyputty} When I \cw{cat} a binary file, I get
+\S{faq-puttyputty}{question} When I \cw{cat} a binary file, I get
`PuTTYPuTTYPuTTY' on my command line.
Don't \cw{cat} binary files, then.
many Control-E characters, and cause this behaviour. Don't do it.
It's a bad plan.
-\S{faq-puttyputty} When I \cw{cat} a binary file, my window title
-changes to a nonsense string.
+\S{faq-puttyputty}{question} When I \cw{cat} a binary file, my
+window title changes to a nonsense string.
Don't \cw{cat} binary files, then.
accident, and cause unexpected changes in the window title. Don't do
it.
-\S{faq-password} My keyboard stops working once PuTTY displays the
-password prompt.
+\S{faq-password}{question} My keyboard stops working once PuTTY
+displays the password prompt.
No, it doesn't. PuTTY just doesn't display the password you type, so
that someone looking at your screen can't see what it is.
\H{faq-secure} Security questions
-\S{faq-publicpc} Is it safe for me to download PuTTY and use it on a
-public PC?
+\S{faq-publicpc}{question} Is it safe for me to download PuTTY and
+use it on a public PC?
It depends on whether you trust that PC. If you don't trust the
public PC, don't use PuTTY on it, and don't use any other software
be tampered with, so it would be better to carry PuTTY with you on a
floppy).
-\S{faq-cleanup} What does PuTTY leave on a system? How can I clean
-up after it?
+\S{faq-cleanup}{question} What does PuTTY leave on a system? How can
+I clean up after it?
PuTTY will leave some Registry entries, and a random seed file, on
the PC (see \k{faq-settings}). If you are using PuTTY on a public
leave. You can do that automatically, by running the command
\c{putty -cleanup}.
-\S{faq-dsa} How come PuTTY now supports DSA, when the website used
-to say how insecure it was?
+\S{faq-dsa}{question} How come PuTTY now supports DSA, when the
+website used to say how insecure it was?
DSA has a major weakness \e{if badly implemented}: it relies on a
random number generator to far too great an extent. If the random
\H{faq-admin} Administrative questions
-\S{faq-domain} Would you like me to register you a nicer domain name?
+\S{faq-domain}{question} Would you like me to register you a nicer
+domain name?
No, thank you. Even if you can find one (most of them seem to have
been registered already, by people who didn't ask whether we
strange things. Having it registered for us by a third party who we
don't even know is not the best way to achieve this.
-\S{faq-webhosting} Would you like free web hosting for the PuTTY web
-site?
+\S{faq-webhosting}{question} Would you like free web hosting for the
+PuTTY web site?
We already have some, thanks.
-\S{faq-sourceforge} Why don't you move PuTTY to SourceForge?
+\S{faq-sourceforge}{question} Why don't you move PuTTY to
+SourceForge?
Partly, because we don't want to move the web site location (see
\k{faq-domain}).
they're not ideal for everyone, and in particular they're not ideal
for us.
-\S{faq-mailinglist1} Why can't I subscribe to the putty-bugs mailing
-list?
+\S{faq-mailinglist1}{question} Why can't I subscribe to the
+putty-bugs mailing list?
Because you're not a member of the PuTTY core development team. The
putty-bugs mailing list is not a general newsgroup-like discussion
overwhelmed by the volume of traffic. It's hard enough to keep up
with the list as it is.
-\S{faq-mailinglist2} If putty-bugs isn't a general-subscription
-mailing list, what is?
+\S{faq-mailinglist2}{question} If putty-bugs isn't a
+general-subscription mailing list, what is?
There isn't one, that we know of.
better to use the established newsgroup \cw{comp.security.ssh} for
this purpose.
-\S{faq-donations} How can I donate to PuTTY development?
+\S{faq-donations}{question} How can I donate to PuTTY development?
Please, \e{please} don't feel you have to. PuTTY is completely free
software, and not shareware. We think it's very important that
something worthwhile, ask us first. If you don't like these terms,
feel perfectly free not to donate. We don't mind.
-\S{faq-pronounce} How do I pronounce PuTTY?
+\S{faq-pronounce}{question} How do I pronounce PuTTY?
Exactly like the normal word \q{putty}. Just like the stuff you put
on window frames. (One of the reasons it's called PuTTY is because
~mdw / sgt / putty / commitdiff