Syntax of ssh .ini file ======================= There are some bugs in ssh, so editing ssh.ini seems more efective than setting up from menu. In "identities" not shown full pathname and name of identity file. In .ini file you may edit directive IdentityFile example: IdentityFile=C:\Program files\ssh\identity If you want set compression level to "none", then directive "compression" you must set to "FALSE", and directive "Compression level" is ignored (it is automatically set to default - 6). So if you want to enable compression, you must set directive "Compression" to "TRUE" and "Compression level" to 1-9. In "local forwards" and "remote forwards", when You want to set more forwarded ports, sometimes ssh crashed or crashed after connecting. Better edit .ini file - directive LocalForward or RemoteForward example: LocalForward=4000 blah.where.com:110,5000 blah.where.com:25,6000 blah.where.com:21 This means: forward port 110 from blah.where.com to localhost port 4000 forward port 25 from blah.where.com to localhost port 5000 forward port 21 from blah.where.com to localhost port 6000 so if I connect to localhost port 4000, I communicate with POP server on blah.where.com over crypted chanel. Of course, for FTP you must setting your ftp client to passive mode (and server on blah.where.com must support this), because FTP normally run data over port 20 and interactive commands over port 21. In passive transfer mode FTP run over port 21.