How to connect to LINCOMM with PuTTY (Windows)

This guide shows you how to sign in to a LINCOMM node from Windows using PuTTY, a free SSH (Secure Shell) client. LINCOMM is short for Linux Community Servers.

Prerequisites

• A UW–Madison NetID and password.
• If your computer is not on the wired Taylor Hall network, set up the campus VPN (Virtual Private Network) first: Campus VPN for Windows. Connect to the VPN before the steps below.
• The name of the node you want. To pick the least-busy one, open https://lincomm.aae.wisc.edu in a browser. If you are reconnecting to work you left running, use the node you started on instead — you can only be on one node at a time.

Steps

1. Download and install PuTTY. Use the 64-bit Windows MSI installer from the official PuTTY download page.

2. Open PuTTY.

3. In Host Name, type the node you chose, such as lincomm-node01.aae.wisc.edu. Leave Port at 22 and make sure Connection type is SSH.

4. Click Open.

5. The first time you connect to a node, PuTTY asks you to trust its host key. Click Accept.

6. At login as:, type <netid>@AD.WISC.EDU (for example, jdoe@AD.WISC.EDU) and press Enter. "AD" is the campus Active Directory account system, and this part is required. Then enter your NetID password. The screen will not show the password as you type — that is normal.

Verify it worked

You should see a command prompt ending in the node name. To confirm which node you are on, run:

hostname

It should print the node you connected to, such as lincomm-node01.

If something went wrong

• "Access denied": Check that you typed your sign-in name as <netid>@AD.WISC.EDU and used your NetID password. Make sure the VPN is connected if you are off the wired Taylor Hall network.
• Connection times out or is refused: Confirm the host name is spelled correctly and that the VPN is connected.
• You are told you are already logged in elsewhere: You can be on only one node at a time. Disconnect from the other node first, then reconnect here.