Other PuTTY and WinSCP Settings

How can I store my login information within WinSCP?
How do I show or hide hidden files with WinSCP?
What are some useful PuTTY settings?
How can I store my configuration within PuTTY?

How can I store my login information within WinSCP?

If you use WinSCP often, it is convenient to store part or all of your connection information in WinSCP. After filling out your login information at the login screen, click the "save" button. You can view, use, and manage your stored sessions by clicking on "stored sessions" on the left menu as shown below.

WinSCP Save

How do I show or hide hidden files with WinSCP?
By default, WinSCP will display hidden files on a remote host. When connected to a Linux system, these files can be identified by their '.' prefix. WinSCP also grays out these files and directories. We recommend that hidden files are not shown. To configure WinSCP not to show these files,

  1. Click on the "view" menu (or "options", if using the Norton Commander interface).
  2. Click on "preferences".
  3. In the preferences window, click on "Panels" on the left menu.
  4. Uncheck (or check) the "Show Hidden Files" box to show or hide the files.

    WinSCP hidden

What are some useful PuTTY settings?
There are many options available for customizing a PuTTY Session.
  • Customizing terminal colors
    PuTTY Allows you to customize the colors used. It is often helpful to configure PuTTY to emulate the terminal session used within the labs. To do this,
    1. In the left menu pane, expand the "Window" menu, if it hasn't been already.
    2. Click on the "Colours" menu.
    3. In the screen that appears, check the "Use system colours" box. Note that here you can finely control the colours PuTTY uses, if you wish.

      PuTTY Colors

  • Saving login name and setting the terminal type
    The PuTTY Connection menu allows you to set the login name before you connect, so that you do not have to enter it upon login. The same menu also allows you to set the terminal type PuTTY uses. It is good to set this option so that remote console programs behave as expected.
    1. In the left menu pane, expand the "Connection" menu, if it hasn't been already.
    2. Click on the "Data" menu.
    3. Set "Terminal-type string" to Linux. If desired, also input your username to "Auto-login username."

      PuTTY Connection

  • Setting up X11 forwarding
    Setting this option is necessary if you wish to use remote graphical applications in conjunction with Xming.
    1. In the left menu pane, expand the "SSH" menu, if it hasn't been already.
    2. Click on the "X11" menu.
    3. Check the box "Enable X11 forwarding", and set "X display location" to ":0.0"

      PuTTY X11

How can I store my configuration within PuTTY?
If you use PuTTY often, it is convenient to store part or all of your connection information in PuTTY. The procedure is similar to the one for WinSCP. After changing the desired settings, return to the initial "Session" screen. Here you can view, use, and manage your stored sessions. You can save as many profiles as you wish, which is helpful since there are many configuration options in PuTTY.

PuTTY Save