Remote Shutdown of a Linux / Unix Computer From MS-Windows

How do I shutdown remote Linux or UNIX system from MS-Windows system?

You can use secure shell (ssh), a network protocol for remote administration of Linux and Unix based computers. SSH is typically used to log into a remote server and execute commands such as reboot or shutdown.

PuTTY SSH Client

PuTTY is a free and open source terminal emulator application which can act as a client for the SSH under MS-Windows operating system. Visit this page and download putty client. In order to use putty you need to know:

IP or Server Name: The name of the Linux or UNIX server you want to connect to.
Username and password: Login name or password to used on your server.

If you don’t know what login name or password to use, contact the administrator of your server.

MS-Windows Running PuTTY To Shutdown Remote UNIX / Linux System — Fig.01: Putty in action

Once connected you need to login as root using sudo or su – command. Type the following command to shutdown remote system:
# shutdown -h now
OR
# /sbin/shutdown -h now
To reboot the system, enter:
# shutdown -r now
OR
# /sbin/reboot
A typical login session – PuTTY running on Windows, logged in to a DD-WRT Linux based Internet router system:

Fig.02: PuTTY running a session on Windows, logged into Linux system

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.

Your support makes a big difference:

I have a small favor to ask. More people are reading the nixCraft. Many of you block advertising which is your right, and advertising revenues are not sufficient to cover my operating costs. So you can see why I need to ask for your help. The nixCraft takes a lot of my time and hard work to produce. If everyone who reads nixCraft, who likes it, helps fund it, my future would be more secure. You can donate as little as $1 to support nixCraft:

1 comment

What is the point?
And can explain me this again, please? Cause it doesn’t seam to work with my servers (not even laptop), cause I am using key based authentication and password authentication is off and won’t be turn on (it is insecure).

Wizzy says:
April 14, 2012 at 12:44 am
What is the point?
And can explain me this again, please? Cause it doesn’t seam to work with my servers (not even laptop), cause I am using key based authentication and password authentication is off and won’t be turn on (it is insecure).

Have a question? Post it on our forum!