Introduction
PuTTY is an open source SSH and Telnet client initially developed for Windows and later ported to macOS. The client allows users to remotely connect to a computer and transfer files securely.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install PuTTY on a machine running macOS.
Prerequisites
- A computer with
- administrator privileges
macOS
Install PuTTY There are a few tools you need to install to make
PuTTY
work on macOS. To install dependencies, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Install Xcode Xcode
is a
set of tools designed for developers, and installing it is a prerequisite for running PuTTY. The steps below explain how to install Xcode:
1. Open the App Store and type xcode:
2. In the results, click the Get button in Xcode, and then click Install. Wait for the installation to finish.
Step 2: Install
command-line tools for Xcode
To use Xcode in your terminal, install Command-Line Tools for Xcode
.
1. Download the Command Line Tools for Xcode installation file from the official Apple developer website.
2. Double-click the downloaded .pkg file to launch the installer.
3. On the Welcome screen, click Continue to continue with the installation.
4. Read the terms of the software license agreement, and if you agree to them, click Continue, followed by Accept in the pop-up window.
5. The installer indicates the disk space required on your computer to install Command Line Tools. When you’re ready, click Install. In the pop-up window, provide your administrator password to proceed with the installation and click Install Software.
6. After the installation is complete, click Close to exit the installer.
7. In the Finder, select Go and click Utilities to display all utilities included with macOS.
8. Open the terminal by double-clicking the Terminal application icon.
9. In the terminal, enter the following command to read and accept the Xcode license:
sudo xcodebuild -license
10. When prompted, press Enter to read the Xcode license. Type OK, and press Enter if you accept the terms.
Step 3: Install MacPorts
The next step is to install MacPorts
.
1. Download the version of MacPorts for your operating system from the official website of MacPorts. When prompted, click Allow to allow downloads from the website.
2. Open the installer by double-clicking the downloaded file.
3. On the installer welcome screen, click Continue to start the installation.
4. Read the terms of the software license agreement, and if you agree, click Continue. In the pop-up window, click OK to continue.
5. The installer indicates the space needed on your computer to install MacPorts and allows you to change the installation location. Click Install to continue with the installation.
6. When prompted, provide your administrator password and click Install Software.
7. When the installation is complete, click Close. The installer asks if you want to keep the installer file. If you need to, click Keep. Otherwise, choose the Move to Trash option.
8. Open a terminal window ( Finder > Go > Utilities > Terminal) and run the following command to update its port tree:
sudo port -v selfupdate
9. Type your password when prompted and press Enter. Wait for the port tree update to finish.
Step 4: Install XQuartz
The last step before installing PuTTY is to install XQuartz. XQuartz provides a windowing system for bitmap displays, common in Unix-like operating systems. The following steps show how to install XQuartz:
1. Find xquartz.org and download the XQuartz installation file. When prompted, click Allow to continue with the download.
2. Double-click the downloaded file to run the installer.
3. Click Continue on the installer welcome screen to start the installation.
4. Read the developer notes, and when you’re ready, click Continue.
5. Review the terms of the software license agreement and click Continue, followed by Accept to continue with the installation.
6. Click Install and enter your password to confirm. After entering your password, click Install Software in the pop-up window to proceed with the installation.
7. During installation, you need to grant the installer access to handle “System Events”. Click OK to continue.
8. The installer notifies you to log out and log back in to XQuartz to make it your default X11 server. Click OK to close the pop-up window and complete the installation.
9. Click Close to exit the installer. When prompted, choose Keep to keep the installation file or Move it to Trash.
Step 5: Install
PuTTY
You are now ready to install PuTTY on macOS
.
1. Open a terminal window (Finder > Go > Utilities > Terminal) and run:
sudo port install putty
2. Enter your password and press Enter to confirm.
3. When asked if you want to proceed with the installation, confirm by typing and pressing Enter.
4. Wait for the installation to finish. When complete, create
a shortcut for PuTTY by running: cp /opt/local/bin/putty ~/Desktop/PuTTY Run
PuTTY After installing PuTTY, you can run it in two ways:
Enter
- the name of the putty application as a command in the terminal and press Enter. Double-click the
- desktop shortcut icon.
A settings window opens where you can choose the connection type and set other options for your PuTTY session.
Conclusion
You now have a working PuTTY port on your macOS system. Use PuTTY to remotely connect to computers, access ports, and find and fix errors.
For Ubuntu and Windows installation guides
, see our articles on installing PuTTY on Ubuntu and installing PuTTY on Windows.