7.2.1 Using Plink for interactive logins

To make a simple interactive connection to a remote server, just type plink and then the host name:

Z:\sysosd>plink login.example.com

Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 flunky.example.com
flunky login:

You should then be able to log in as normal and run a session. The output sent by the server will be written straight to your command prompt window, which will most likely not interpret terminal control codes in the way the server expects it to. So if you run any full-screen applications, for example, you can expect to see strange characters appearing in your window. Interactive connections like this are not the main point of Plink.

In order to connect with a different protocol, you can give the command line options -ssh, -telnet, -rlogin or -raw. To make an SSH connection, for example:

Z:\sysosd>plink -ssh login.example.com
login as:

If you have already set up a PuTTY saved session, then instead of supplying a host name, you can give the saved session name. This allows you to use public-key authentication, specify a user name, and use most of the other features of PuTTY:

Z:\sysosd>plink my-ssh-session
Sent username "fred"
Authenticating with public key "fred@winbox"
Last login: Thu Dec  6 19:25:33 2001 from :0.0
fred@flunky:~$

(You can also use the -load command-line option to load a saved session; see section 3.8.3.1. If you use -load, the saved session exists, and it specifies a hostname, you cannot also specify a host or user@host argument - it will be treated as part of the remote command.)