Connecting to an Amazon Server from a Mac Using the Terminal

1. I’m posting this to organize and record what I learned while struggling through this early on.
2. What you’ll need:
   • Install putty
   • A .ppk file or a .pem file (on a Mac you need to convert the .ppk file to a .pem file - described below)
   • The IP information of the server you want to access.

Getting Started

• Install putty in the Terminal using homebrew

$ brew install putty

If brew is not installed, install brew first and then install putty

$ ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

• Use puttygen to convert the .ppk file extension to .pem

$ puttygen [file name].ppk -O private-openssh -o [file name].pem

• Then register the converted key file. Various guides recommend setting it to 400, 500, 600, or 700, but in my case it worked when I set it to 700

$ chmod 700 [fime name].pem

• Once you’ve done this, the converted file is created in that folder, and you use it to connect to aws via ssh.

$ ssh -i [file name].pem ubuntu@ip-address

• A few steps for exiting with exit or opening a new terminal to upload files

Transferring a single file

$ scp -i [pem file name] [name of file to upload] [user id]@[ip-address]:~/
$ scp -i example.pem example.py ubuntu@100.1.1.1:~/

Transferring an entire folder

$ scp -i [pem file name] -r [name of folder to upload] [user id]@[ip-address]:~/
$ scp -i example.pem example ubuntu@100.1.1.1:~/