Putty Proxy Pain

Tricks Tips Tools

Setting up secure access to a cvs repository from Windows works great using these two awesome tools:

  • Putty
  • TortoiseCVS

    The docs explain things pretty well. The only part that can snag is getting them working together through a proxy, which required replacement of Tortoise CVS’s no-terminal ssh connection utility (tortoiseplink.exe) with Putty’s version (plink.exe). Here are the steps:

  • Install putty and tortoise cvs
  • Set up your ssh keys, and configure pageant to serve up your private key, according to the docs (unless you’re willing to enter your linux user password a LOT)
  • Set up a putty session for plink as follows:
  • Connection: add your user to Auto-login username
  • Connection:Proxy set up your proxy
  • Connection:SSH check “don’t allocate a terminal” and “don’t run a command”
  • Name and save the session [e.g. yourplinksession]
  • Set up a plink.bat batch file: [plink.exe -load yourplinksession %1 %2 %3 %4]
  • Tortoise CVS preferences:Tools:SSH application set to plink.bat
  • Tortoise CVS preferences:Tools:SSH parameters set to [-l “%u” ]

    Fire it up!

    • Comments | Tuesday, November 30, 2004

    Mo Betta Linux-on-top-of-Windows

    		Linux Projects Tricks Tips Tools Windows

    A hyper-quick CliffNotes summary of X for those new to linux: The X Window System is the foundation of the GUI of modern Unices. The best part: it allows you to escape the graphical prison of a M$ Windoze(TM) operating system by running an “X Server”. The X server can display your X windows from a remote linux machine on the local machine instead (even if it’s a Windoze(TM) box). With a smart Winblows(TM) SSH client like putty, you can tunnel your X packets through an SSH session, so you end up with both command line and graphical secure remote access to your boxxen, whoop!

    There are literally TONS of X servers for Windumbs(TM). However, I think I just found the best. Cygwin is a super-groovy set of native libraries that provide a command shell under Winslows(TM) with a LOT of linux functionality. On top of that, they provide an X environment. On top of THAT, it comes with an X server. Just run the Cygwin setup program, and make sure you include the following components:

  • xorg-x11-base
  • x-startup-scripts

    Then open your Cygwin shell and type “startxwin.sh”.

    As a final note, I’m having a lot of luck with the newer X.org flavor of X. It’s running on my Gentoo box, my Fedora box, and the Cygwin on this laptop. All the goodies, none of the crankiness, of XFree86. :>

    Life just doesn’t get any better under Windoesn’t(TM).

    • Comments | Friday, November 26, 2004