Convert Putty Keys

To convert a PuTTY .ppk key to something that you can use on Linux or WSL start by installing “PuTTY Tools”.

# Fedora
sudo dnf install putty

# Ubuntu
sudo apt install putty-tools

Then you can use the puttygen utility to convert to .pem.

# Private
puttygen <filename>.ppk -O private-openssh -o <filename>.pem

# Public
puttygen <filename>.ppk -O public-openssh -o <filename>.pem

If you need to convert the other way (to .pem), you can do that as well.

# Private
puttygen <filename>.pem -o <filename>.ppk -O private

# Public
puttygen <filename>.pem -o <filename>.ppk -O public

About

I'm a technology professional who's been passionate about computers since my Grandad introduced me to an Intel 386 back in the 90s when I was a kid. Those moments inspired a passion within for technology, and I've been playing around with anything with a circuit board ever since. Whenever I have a moment you can probably find me working on something computer-related, and this is where I like to write about those moments.