putty-source/doc/plink.but

\versionid $Id: plink.but,v 1.3 2001/02/07 11:20:15 owen Exp $

\C{plink} Using the command-line connection tool Plink

\# Explain Plink

\# Explain that Plink is probably not what you want if you want to
\# run an interactive session in a Command Prompt window

\# Explain that Plink is really for batch-file use, and that
\# therefore it works best with public-key authentication; link to
\# that chapter

\# Give instructions on how to set up Plink with CVS

\i{Plink} (PuTTY Link), is a command-line connection tool similar to
UNIX \c{ssh}.  It is probably not what you want if you want to run an
interactive session in a console window.

\H{plink-starting} Starting Plink

Plink is a command line application.  This means that you cannot just
double-click on its icon to run it and instead you have to bring up a
\i{console window}.  With Windows 95, 98, and ME, this is called an
\q{MS-DOS Prompt} and with Windows NT and 2000 it is called a
\q{Command Prompt}.  It should be available from the Programs section
of your Start Menu.

To start Plink it will need either to be on your \i{\c{PATH}} or in your
current directory.  To add the directory containing Plink to your
\c{PATH} environment variable, type into the console window:

\c set PATH C:\path\to\putty\directory;%PATH%

This will only work for the lifetime of that particular console
window.  To set your \c{PATH} more permanently on Windows NT, use the
Environment tab of the System Control Panel.  On Windows 95, 98, and
ME, you will need to edit your \c{AUTOEXEC.BAT} to include a \c{set}
command like the one above.

\H{plink-usage} Plink Usage

Once you've got a console window to type into, you can just type
\c{plink} on its own to bring up a usage message.  This tells you the
version of Plink you're using, and gives you a brief summary of how to
use Plink:

\c Z:\sysosd>plink
\c PuTTY Link: command-line connection utility
\c Release 0.50
\c Usage: plink [options] [user@]host [command]
\c Options:
\c   -v        show verbose messages
\c   -ssh      force use of ssh protocol
\c   -P port   connect to specified port
\c   -pw passw login with specified password

\S{plink-usage-basics} The basics

\S{plink-usage-options} Options

These are the command line options that Plink accepts.

\H{plink-pubkey} Public key authentication

\H{plink-batch} Using Plink in \i{batch files} and \i{scripts}

\H{plink-cvs} Using Plink with \i{CVS}

To use Plink with CVS, you need to do something like the following:

\c set CVS_RSH=\path\to\plink.exe
\c cvs -d :ext:user@hostname:/path/to/repository co module

This should work, provided the command \c{plink hostname -l user} works
without requiring a password.

You can arrange for that to be the case by:

\b running Pageant (see \k{pageant}) and putting a valid RSA key in it

\b using a saved session name in place of \c{hostname}, and having that saved
   session specify a valid RSA key. (If you do this, you can also leave out
   \c{user@}, provided you specify it in the saved session.)

\H{plink-whatelse} Using Plink with... ?