Background

Most Unix-like systems are configured to use the SSH protocol for remote access, but most SSH client applications do not support PIV as required by Federal policy. Putty-CAC, a fork of the Open Source Putty SSH client, resolves this issue.

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Note that Van Dyke Secure CRT, a commercial product, also supports PIV SSH login for multiple platforms, including Windows and Mac.

Installing PuTTY-CAC

1. If you have a forge.mil account, download the latest Putty-CAC package from forge.mil. If you do not have access to forge.mil, you can also download it at https://risacher.org/putty-cac. Source code is available at https://github.com/risacher/putty-cac
2. There is no installer available for the binaries, so you must either:
   ● Place the executable files in a directory that you have execute rights over.
   ● Build an installation package to install the executables in the location you choose. This will enable the Putty-CAC applications to be available from the Start Menu.
   

   At a minimum, you must install the following packages:
   ● putty.exe
   ● pageant.exe
   

3. Verify the version of PuTTY that was installed by opening the application and clicking About in the lower left corner.
4. Launch pageant from the PuTTY install directory, (eg, C:Program FilesPutty-CAC). Pageant will appear in the taskbar on the bottom right of your desktop;it will not open a window.
5. You must now insert the CAPI Key and configure PuTTY-CAC. Follow the steps below.

Add CAPI Key into Pageant

1. Open Windows Explorer or click Start > Computer.
2. Open Pageant by clicking the executable.
3. A window will not open, but the Pageant icon will appear on the menu bar. Right-click the icon and select View Keys.
4. The Pageant Key List window will appear. Click Add CAPI Cert.
5. Select your Smart Card Logon certificate from the Windows Security window.

   ● Make sure you choose the correct certificate! Select “Click here to view certificate properties,” click “Details,” scroll half-way, and locate Enhanced Key Usage. It should begin with “Smart Card Logon;” this indicates it is the correct certificate. If you do not see this field, select a different certificate.
   Note: If multiple certificates exist, you may want to clear out the expired or revoked certificates by following How To – FIXME: PIV Card – Clear certificate store.
   ● Click OK to close the details window.

6. Highlight the correct Smart Card certificate and click OK.
7. The Pageant Window will now display the certificate information.
8. Click Close.

   Warning: You must re-add your certificate every time pageant is started.

Configure PuTTY-CAC

1. Right-click the Pageant icon again from the menu bar and select New Session. This will launch PuTTY.
2. From within PuTTY, enter the destination IP address or hostname in the Host Name (or IP address) textbox to setup a new profile, or if you already have profiles set up in PuTTY, load that profile.

   Note: If you have multiple destination profiles, you will have to do the following steps for each profile

3. Enter a descriptive name under Saved Sessions textbox (if setting up a new profile).
4. On left panel, select Connection > SSH > CAPI thencheck the box beside the words Attempt “CAPI Certificate” (Key-only) auth (SSH-2).
5. From within PuTTY, select Connection > SSH > Auth then select both “Allow agent forwarding” and “Allow attempted changes of username in SSH-2.”
6. Click Session, then Save. This profile is now configured for PIV logon.
7. To get your PIV card’s SSH key, in PuTTY, go to Connection > SSH > CAPI and select the browse button on the right side. This will automatically fill in the “Cert” and “SSH keystring” fields.
8. Copy and paste the SSH keystring value from PuTTY into Notepad as you will need to include the SSH key when you contact the jumpbox support team or create a service ticket.

   The configuration file should contain “Host *” and “ForwardAgent yes” and exist in the same folder where they place the SSH key.

9. In Saved Sessions, click Save to save your configuration.

Verify PIV Login

1. Open Pageant (if not already running) and make sure your CAPI key is populated, close the Pageant window. Right click the Pageant icon and choose “New Session”. This will open PuTTY-CAC.
2. Load one of your saved sessions that you previously configured for PIV logon.
3. When prompted, enter your remote Unix/Linux account name, and you should be prompted for your PIV PIN.
4. Enter your PIN, click OK and you should be logged in.
5. Once logged in, run ‘ssh-add –l’ to ensure that the forwarding agent is working. If you do not see the key printed when you run this command, something is wrong and you will not be prompted for your PIN if you ssh further into the environment.
6. Both the cert key that was pasted into the .ssh/authorized_keys and the config file need to be copied or scp’d to all the servers you will connect to in the data center. If the forwarding agent is working when you ssh to a server beyond the jumphost, you should be prompted for the PIN again.
7. After each server you ‘jump’ to, the output of ssh-add –l should always show the key. If not, either permissions are wrong or a file is mislabeled, or missing.

While moving from the Windows to Mac OS is a nice experience, you would miss the PuTTY system on Mac if you have been used to using it on Windows. Whether you are a system admin or a website owner, it’s a common application that most of us have used at least once in their lifetime.

PuTTY is a free terminal emulator that helps you transfer files over the same network, by logging from another computer. It can also be accessed over the internet. You can secure the file transfer facility by adding SCP and SFTP. Security is the biggest concern with PuTTY, but you can add verification and encryption by using it in combination with SSH. This helps shield the connections over the internet.

While many dedicated users still prefer using PuTTY, it can be tough for those who have recently shifted to Mac. So, here’s a quick list of some of the best PuTTY alternative for Mac OS that we think can make your life easy.

Terminal

It’s the default terminal emulator that comes embedded in the Mac OS. It’s a wonderful tool that helps break down into the command line. So, when you are logged into multiple servers, you will easily be able to identify the special background colors and the window titles mentioned in profiles. You can either use the built-in profiles in the Terminal or can even make your own custom profiles.

Just Press Command and Spacebar and search Terminal in Spotlight. Now, just write ssh [email protected] to connect to the server.

Moreover, it allows you to add bookmarks while working which can be then used to quickly maneuver through the extended Terminal window. The best part is, the inspector helps you to view and control the ongoing processes, and even lets you adjust the window titles and background colors.

Mac Os Putty

Price: free

iTerm 2

iTerm is one of the best PuTTY alternatives for MacOS that comes loaded with features. It offers solutions for any desire that a terminal user could have thought of. Among its major attractions is the option to split a tab into several windows with each one of them featuring a different session. Whether you choose to divide it vertically or horizontally, it allows you to generate endless panes in any possible alignment.

By registering a hotkey, you can bring the software to the front when working from another program. Simply press a key and the terminal comes up. You can get a terminal that’s always available by setting the hotkey to open a dedicated pane. Moreover, it features powerful search functionality, while the interface stays distant. As soon as you input your search term, the matches are instantly highlighted.

Autocomplete is another feature where as you type the first letter of any word that you might have used earlier, followed with “Cmd” and the word comes up at the top of the list. Find option to look for text, paste history to recheck the last copied or pasted text, or instant replay to travel back in time, are some of its other significant features.

Price: free

ZOC

ZOC is compatible with both Windows and Mac making it universally usable. This terminal emulator is a freeware that offers a splendid list of emulations and robust features. These features make it a dependable and classy tool that links you to hosts and mainframe. It connects you through different modes such as telnet, secure shell, and more.

It boasts an advanced interface that features a tabbed session with thumbnails. It offers address book containing folders and hosts (color-coded). It can be easily customized to suit your choices and requirements. Support for a scripting language with 200 plus commands, huge number of loggings, buttons that are user-defined, or full keyboard remapping features are among some of the major features.

Price: free

vSSH Lite

If you are looking for a free PuTTY alternative to Mac OS, then vSSH Lite could be the right solution. It’s a modern SSH and Telnet client that’s highly customizable. It comes with an enlarged keyboard, touch screen motions, synchronization for iCloud, and more. It offers one of the fastest terminal outputs, comes with SSH and Telnet protocols, offers verification options with username/password and private keys, option to scroll through the touchscreen or use arrows, and multiple sessions.

Among its other major features are, background work for up to 3 minutes for iOS7, and up to 10 minutes for iOS 5/6, notifies on timeout, connections for iCloud/Dropbox, sharing of macros and keys, key and port forwarding options, and so on.

Price: free

Hyper

Hyper is another free and open source software for Mac that works as a strong alternative to PuTTY. It’s also compatible with other major platforms. The project intends to create a pleasant and extendable experience for those using a command-line interface developed on open web models.

Install Putty For Mac

The software aims to focus majorly on speed, consistency, and the creation of accurate API for extension creators. Overall, the program can be expanded with add-ons, but without any choice for file transfer or encryption.

Price: free and open source

Shuttle

Shuttle for Mac is an uncomplicated and straightforward shortcut menu application for OS X. All you need to do is to launch the app and select the option that says “Configure to edit ~/.shuttle.json”. Now, describe the items featured in the menu as well as the actions that start functioning when clicked.

Price: free

OpenSSH

A free and open source terminal emulator for Mac OS, OpenSSH is also available for other platforms. It’s a leading connectivity software used to log in from a remote system with the SSH client. It encodes the entire traffic to remove any possibilities of spying, hijacking connection, and other malware attacks. Besides, it also offers an extended range of safe tunneling features, multiple verification techniques, and elegant configuration choices.

The program comes equipped with tools like ssh, scp, and sftp for remote functions, ssh-add, ssh-keysign, ssh-keyscan, and ssh-keygen for key management, and sshd, sftp-server, and ssh-agent as service options.

Price: free

Royal TSX

If you are looking for a PuTTY alternative for Mac that offers easy and safe access to the remote computers, then Royal TSX can be your best bet. It helps you manage your computers remotely on several different platforms at a time. Whether you are a system engineer, IT professional, developer, or system admin, the tool is perfect for your needs.

It also offers assistance for credential management and comes with a tabbed interface for convenience. Simply mention the name of the credential to allocate a credential to connections. This helps you to share a file that features only connections with your personal testimonials saved in a confidential file, locked with a passcode.

It features a smooth and user interface that is completely customizable. Besides, it can manage files accessed by different users concurrently, while letting you integrate file modifications without an SQL database back-end. It can also sync with LastPass and KeePass that allows you to open the documents. It also allows the credentials to be opened to be used as the normal credentials for the software.

Price: free trial available; pro version starts from € 39.00

Chrome Secure Shell

For those looking for one of the best PuTTY alternatives for Mac, Chrome Secure Shell is the right choice It’s a terminal emulator and SSH client designed for Chrome. It’s compatible with x-term that uses the built-in client to connect to the SSH servers right away without needing any outer proxies.

Price: free

Termius

If you are looking for an extensive command-line option, Termius could be the best option for you. This tool is way beyond than just an SSH client as it reexplores remote access for network engineers and system admins. It allows you to access the Linux or IoT based devices safely, and fix any issues much faster and conveniently.

This free application offers an attractive, handmade interface for all major platforms. There are no ads for distraction. Moreover, it couples its servers and credentials for fast access. While it helps make groups to explain the shared themes and settings, it also tags your systems to keep them arranged.

It comes equipped with 10 colorful themes and fonts that can be adjusted. In addition, it allows you to create several connections to the same host or link to different hosts. You can also encode almost all services and connections using port forwarding and tunneling.

Price: free

Kitty Terminal

Kitty Terminal can be easily considered among the best PuTTY alternatives for Mac OS as it’s a robust, multi-platform, and a GPU-supported terminal emulator. The program transfers description to the GPU and makes the OpenGL to work for quick, multi-platform performance. It includes native tiling designs along with support for visual, Unicode, and ligature.

It provides support for every advanced terminal feature like the images, true-color, mouse protocol, and more. It also supports tiling of different terminal windows parallelly in multiple patterns and does not require using the tmux. Best of all, it can be managed from the shell prompt or the scripts. The program can be extended using Kittens structure that helps build small terminal programs.

In addition, it provides support for startup sessions that enable you to fix a design, active directories, and apps to launch at the startup. Besides, it also lets you launch the scrollback option in an individual window that uses random apps.

Putty For Mac Sierra

Price: free and open source

SecureCRT

SecureCRT offers a powerful terminal emulation function for those in the field of computers. While it helps to increase productivity with modern session control, it also sets up many methods to save time and streamline mundane tasks. It offers safe remote access, file transfer facility, and the option of data tunneling for all employees in the organization.

Moreover, it comes with pre-set color schemes, that includes Solarized scheme, making it easy to transform the look of your terminal workstation. You have the freedom to select from a different light and dark color mixups with matching forefront, background, and ANSI shades.

Price: free trial available; pro version starts at $59.95

Codinn SSH

Codinn SSH Proxy helps transform any remote server (SSH) to SOCKS v5 proxy, that’s responsive and user-friendly. It stores the history of your SSH credentials and private key passcode, and save it to the keychain of OS X. What’s more? It can even reconnect you automatically when your Mac wakes you up from your sleep.

Among its major features are, autostart option as the Mac OS X starts, option to share SOCKS v5 proxy on LAN, quick change between multiple SSH accounts create a whitelist, and more.

Price: On request

While there are many alternatives for PuTTY for Windows, not many options are there for Mac OS. However, the ones we have listed are good enough to suffice your needs. Given that Mac OS already comes equipped with its own native SSH client, chances are that you may not require external support. But, those who are looking for additional features, can try any of the apps listed in the above list of the best PuTTY alternative for Mac OS.

DTerm

DTerm is another great PuTTY alternative for MacOS which is context based. This command line works at the simple touch of a key. It syncs the command line process into the user’s regular workflow and improves productivity while removing any clutters from the screen. In short, it simplifies the entire workflow by eliminating the tedious process of functioning as an individual window in an individual application.

As you look for information, the software questions the window for the route to its logs (at the extreme front), while introducing a command line using a suitable active directory. It also lets the log files to be added to the command, easily. Moreover, it allows you to copy the command outcomes to the clipboard and release the software with a single stroke of a keyboard.

The software helps cut down the entire workflow of operating command in a random working directory and copying the outcomes to be used later. It reduces this entire process to as low as just three simple keystrokes.

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