Setting Up a PuTTY SSH Connection

You can set up an SSH connection to Sierra Admin Corner using the SSH client of your choice. Below are instructions for setting up a PuTTY SSH connection for the first time on a Microsoft Windows PC using the free PuTTY SSH client. Note that you can also create a new SSH private key file at any time.

The process of setting up a PuTTY connection consists of the following steps:

  1. Downloading the PuTTY Software Tools
  2. Downloading an SSH Private Key File
  3. Converting the Downloaded Sierra Private Key File to the PuTTY Private Key File Format
  4. Setting up a PuTTY Saved Session for Sierra Admin Corner
  5. Accessing Admin Corner with a PuTTY Saved Session

Downloading the PuTTY Software Tools

You can download the PuTTY software tools from the PuTTY website in 32-bit or 64-bit Windows versions. The PuTTY programs are small, self-contained executable files that do not need to be permanently installed by Windows or saved in a specific Windows directory.

To set up a PuTTY SSH connection to Admin Corner, you must download the following:

Downloading an SSH Private Key File

You can download a private key file for SSH key authentication from the Sierra Administration Application. To download the private key file, do the following:

  1. In the Sierra Administrative Application, select Back End Management | System Files.
  2. Click Admin Corner on the System Files page.
  3. Click Download Private Key File and save the key file to your local PC.

Converting the Downloaded Sierra Private Key File to the PuTTY Private Key File Format

PuTTY stores SSH private key files in the .ppk file format. To convert the OpenSSH private key file provided by the Sierra Administrative Application into a .ppk file, do the following:

  1. Start the PuTTYgen key generation utility.
  2. Click the Load button to load an existing private key file.
  3. In the Load Private Key dialog box that opens, locate the drop-down selector in the lower-right corner that provides file search options. Change the selection to "All Files (*)", and navigate to the directory containing the private key file downloaded in the previous section. Click Open.
  4. Click OK when prompted with the message "Successfully imported foreign key ....To use this key with PuTTY, you need to use the 'Save private key' command." 
  5. Confirm that "RSA" is selected. You can find this option on PuTTYgen's main window at the bottom in the Parameters: Type of key to generate section. For the Number of bits in a generated key value, use the default of "2048".
  6. Click Save private key.   
  7. Click Yes when PuTTYgen displays a warning window with the question "Are you sure you want to save this key without a passphrase to protect it?".
  8. From the Save private key as dialog box, select the name of the PuTTY private key file, the file storage location, and the file type. Use the file type "PuTTY Private Key Files (*.ppk)" when saving the PuTTY private key.
  9. Close PuTTYgen.

Setting up a PuTTY Saved Session for Sierra Admin Corner

You can save for future use your Admin Corner PuTTY configuration settings. To save your configuration, do the following:

  1. Start the PuTTY client program.
  2. Configure the settings on the Session panel.
    1. Click the Session option in the Category pane on the left-hand side of the screen.
    2. In the Host Name (or IP address) field, type your Sierra app server host name or IP address.
    3. In the Port field, type "22".
    4. In the Connection type section, select "SSH".
  3. Configure the settings on the Data panel.
    1. Click the Connection | Data option in the Category pane on the left-hand side of the screen.
    2. In the Auto-login username field, type "sadmin" with no quotation marks.
  4. Configure the settings on the Auth panel.
    1. Click the Connection | SSH | Auth option in the Category pane on the left-hand side of the screen.
    2. Click the Browse button under the text "Private Key file for authentication".
    3. Navigate to the directory where you saved the PuTTY-generated private key file (*.ppk). Select the file and click Open.
  5. Save your session configuration for Sierra Admin Corner on the Session panel.
    1. Click the Session option in the Category pane on the left-hand side of the screen.
    2. In the blank field under the text Saved Sessions, enter a name for your Sierra Admin Corner session.
    3. Click Save.

Accessing Admin Corner with PuTTY Saved Session

To access Sierra Admin Corner with your saved PuTTY session, do the following:

  1. Start the PuTTY SSH client.
  2. Click to highlight the saved Sierra Admin Corner session name.
  3. Click Open. PuTTY opens an SSH emulator window with a Sierra login prompt.
  4. Enter a standard Sierra user and password to access Admin Corner.