Setup WSL PuTTY Connection

You can connect to your WSL Ubuntu distribution using PuTTY by setting up an SSH connection. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Install SSH Server in Your Ubuntu WSL

1. Open your Ubuntu 24.04 WSL distribution:

   wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04

2. Update package lists and install OpenSSH server:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install openssh-server -y

3. Edit the SSH configuration file:

   sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

4. Make these changes in the file:

   • Set Port 2222 (or any unused port number)
   • Ensure PasswordAuthentication yes is uncommented
   • Ensure PermitRootLogin no is set
   • Add AllowUsers yourusername (replace with your actual username)

5. Save and exit (Ctrl+O, Enter, then Ctrl+X)

6. Create the required SSH directory if it doesn't exist:

   sudo mkdir -p /var/run/sshd

7. Start the SSH service:

   sudo service ssh start

Step 2: Configure PuTTY

1. Open PuTTY

2. Configure the session:

   • Host Name (or IP address): 127.0.0.1 or localhost
   • Port: 2222 (the port you configured)
   • Connection type: SSH

3. Optional: In the left sidebar, navigate to "Connection > SSH > Auth > Credentials" and set up key-based authentication if preferred

4. Return to the "Session" category and save the session with a name like "WSL Ubuntu-24.04"

5. Click "Open" to connect

6. Log in with your WSL Ubuntu username and password

Step 3: Make SSH Start Automatically (Optional)

To make the SSH server start automatically when you launch WSL, add this to your ~/.bashrc file:

# Check if SSH service is running, if not start it
service ssh status > /dev/null || sudo service ssh start

Run this command to edit your .bashrc:

nano ~/.bashrc

Add the line above at the end of the file, save and exit.

Alternative Methods

Using WSL2 Networking Directly

Instead of using an SSH server, you can use Windows' built-in localhost forwarding:

1. In PuTTY, connect to:

   • Host: localhost
   • Port: 2222
   • Connection type: SSH

2. In your WSL Ubuntu, run a simple SSH server on port 2222:

   sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -D -p 2222

Using WSL.exe Directly

If you just want terminal access, you can create a batch file to launch WSL directly:

1. Create a file named wsl-ubuntu.bat with:

   wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04

2. Run this batch file instead of using PuTTY

Troubleshooting

• If connection is refused, ensure SSH server is running:

  sudo service ssh restart

• Check SSH server status:

  sudo service ssh status

• Verify port is listening:

  netstat -tuln | grep 2222

• If you get "Connection refused," make sure Windows Firewall allows connections on your chosen port