How To: Transfer your PuTTY settings between computers

Filed under: Internet, Features, How-Tos

How To: Transfer your PuTTY settings between computers

by Grant Robertson Feb 1st 2007

PuTTY is tops on the short list of applications I install first on any Windows machine. Over the years I've used PuTTY, I've installed it on a huge number of computers but I've always had one complaint; There isn't a configuration file I can backup or move to a new machine.

Getting all the little comfort settings correct for each SSH connection can be a pain. The third time you set emulation, keys, encryption type, etc. for each machine you regularly access, you lose patience. The fifth time you find yourself re-entering settings you might do what I did, find a better way.

Moving PuTTy settings between computers is an easy task once you know what's involved. We'll find the registry keys where PuTTy stores its configuration information and export them to a file. We'll then use that file we've made to import our configuration on the target machine.

Exporting Your PuTTy Configuration

Putty stores its settings in the Windows registry. To save a backup of your Putty settings, you'll need to export this registry key to a file.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham

(Simon Tatham is the original developer responsible for PuTTy)

1. Click Start->Run and type "RegEdt32" in the "Open" dialog. Click "Ok"

2. One RegEdt32 starts, you'll be presented with an application which looks something like:

3. Press "Ctrl+F" to bring up the Find dialog. Enter the name of the key, "SimonTratham" in the "Find What" field, and make sure only "Keys" is checked in the "Look At" section of the dialog. Finally, click "Find Next"

4. The search may take a while, reminding us that the Windows Registry is a large and mysterious place where dragons be. Let's use these few seconds to reflect on the fact that you should never, ever, never change things in the registry unless you are absolutely, positively, totally, completely, 100% dead sure that you know exactly what you're doing. When the search completes we'll see the key name for which we're looking.

5. Click File->Export. Give your file an appropriate name like, "putty.reg" and click "Save"

6. We're done! Save the putty.reg file somewhere safe. The file doesn't contain any passwords or actual SSH key values so, it's relatively safe from prying eyes. Still, it does contain your configuration and that kind of data is a private matter.

Importing Your PuTTy Configuration

To import your saved PuTTy configuration on any other Windows computer simply copy your exported registry key, right click on the file and click "Merge"

Windows will ask you for confirmation that you want to import this set of registry values. We know this file is safe, because we created it but, you should never import registry information from an unknown source.

That's all you need to know about moving your PuTTy configuration from one machine to another. This can be really useful information when upgrading to a new PC or, if you're an office IT guy where your users all have a standard list of servers they need to connect via SSH, you can create a reference configuration on once machine and "share" it between every computer in the office.

Tags: configuration, how to, HowTo, PuTTy, registry export, registry import, RegistryExport, RegistryImport, SSH, windows registry, WindowsRegistry

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kay said 5:20PM on 2-01-2007

Or, you could have just used PortaPutty available via http://socialistsushi.com/portaputty

Chad Cropper said 9:30PM on 2-01-2007

Another great alternative is using
http://puttysm.sourceforge.net/
It allows you to group your sessions together and you can eport the reg file from within the app.

Joe Mansfield said 10:01PM on 2-01-2007

Or
From the Start->Run Dialog enter the following.

regedit /e "%userprofile%\desktop\putty.reg" HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Simontatham

to place a copy of the backup on your desktop.

Much much much quicker.

Grant Robertson said 10:03PM on 2-01-2007

I still think it's worthwhile for those who've never exported a key or looked at the registry to get the walk-through but, that's an awesome tip! Thanks Joe!

Bryan Price said 8:18AM on 2-02-2007

Having gone through too many reinstalls lately, I'm glad to see this. Yeah, I could have figured this out on my own if I wanted to, getting the source is pretty darn easy if I didn't want to use Procmon.

And there's a new version of Putty for those of us (like me) that are still using .58.

And now that I've got Putty set the way I want it (er, no, I want to set the colors, fraq), I'll put that .reg file where I can download it anywhere.

Bryan Price said 8:27AM on 2-02-2007

OK, I changed my colors without loading the profile first, then saved it over the profile. And I hadn't saved the original. Yuch.

At least it's set now, saved, and in my gmail inbox.

I should set up a label of Backup for such things.

Why would I do that when it's obvious I'm already mad.

TorontoKev said 10:42AM on 2-02-2007

For us newbies, could you please tell us what Putty is in the first sentence or three?

Tboss said 11:46AM on 2-02-2007

That is pretty cool. Would also be curious if there was an add-in or a means in which to program function keys or heck any of the keyboard keys from within putty. Such as F1 for "ls -l"..

Anu said 3:46PM on 2-02-2007

see http://mylivephoto.com/

Mike said 6:30PM on 2-02-2007

Or, alternatively, you could use PortaPutty to have all of your sessions and server info saved in a flat text file. It's fantastic for USB keys, but also serves just as well stored on a work PC's hard disk.

http://socialistsushi.com/portaputty

rt said 8:53AM on 2-23-2007

Great tips, but there is a typo for finding
the name "SimonTratham", it should be "SimonTatham".

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