PuTTY

To get the best possible experience when connecting to a FreeBSD or Linux host, first make sure that the putty-256color terminal info is installed on the host and can be used:

Linux:

sudo apt install ncurses-term

FreeBSD:

sudo pkg install terminfo-db

Then set the following options:

• Terminal → Keyboard:
  • The Function keys and keypad: Set this to Xterm R6. This ensures keys like F1–F12, Home, and End are interpreted correctly by tmux and Vim.
• Window → Translation:
  • Remote character set: Set to UTF-8.
  • Handling of line drawing characters: Set to Use Unicode line drawing code points. This prevents the "broken boxes" or strange characters often seen in tmux pane borders.
• Connection → Data:
  • Terminal-type string: Change this from xterm to putty-256color. If you encounter errors about missing terminal definitions later, you can use xterm-256color as a fallback.
• Window → Colours:
  • Ensure Allow terminal to use xterm 256-colour mode is checked.