---
title: Putty
url: https://docs.vultr.com/products/compute/instances/bare-metal/connection/putty
description: A guide for establishing SSH connections to Vultr Bare Metal servers using PuTTY, a popular Windows SSH client.
publish_date: 2024-09-23T20:20:21.946143Z
last_updated: 2026-05-26T18:50:11.865584Z
---

# How to Connect to a Vultr Bare Metal Instance using Putty

Putty is an SSH client for Windows workstations. It provides a unique management panel and terminal to connect to instances using SSH. Putty supports password-based authentication and SSH keys to connect to an instance.

Follow this guide to connect to a Vultr Bare Metal instance using Putty on Windows.

## Connect to an Instance Using the Default User Credentials

1. Open Putty from your applications menu.
1. Enter your instance's public IP address in the **Host Name (or IP address)** field.
1. Keep `22` as the **Port** value and **SSH** as the connection type.
1. Click **Open** to connect to your instance using SSH.
1. Click **Accept** when prompted to add the instance's public key to your workstation's known hosts.
1. Enter your instance username as the `login as` value.
1. Enter your user password when prompted and press :key_enter: to log in.
1. View the active user information in your SSH session.

    ```console
    $ whoami
    ```

## Connect to an Instance Using SSH Keys

1. Enter your instance's public IP address in the **Host Name (or IP address)** field.
1. Keep `22` as the **Port** and **SSH** as the connection type.
1. Expand the **SSH** group on the main navigation menu to access additional connection options.
1. Expand the **Auth** group and select **Credentials** from the list of options.
1. Click **Browse** within the **Private key file for authentication** field to load your private key.
1. Click **Data** within the **Connection** group and enter the default instance username in the **Auto-login username** field to use with your SSH key.
1. Navigate to **Session** on the main navigation menu and enter a new session name in the **Saved Sessions** field.
1. Click **Save** to store your SSH key, user, and the instance IP configurations.
1. Click **Open** to connect to the instance using the SSH key session information.
1. Click **Accept** when prompted to add the instance's public key to your workstation's known hosts.
1. View the active user information in your SSH session.

    ```console
    $ whoami
    ```