Start SSH connection in PuTTY, run a command, and leave the session active

Question

I want to run a few shell commands every time I SSH to a server via PuTTY. I'm connecting to a production web server managed by someone else, and I don't want to store my own scripts there.

I see the option Connection > SSH > Remote Command, but if I put my initialization commands there, after starting the session, it closes immediately after the commands execute. How can I run the Remote Command, and then keep the session open so I can continue using it?

Answer 1

The SSH session closes (and PuTTY with it) as soon as the command finishes. By default the "command" is a shell. As you have overridden this default "command" and yet you want to run the shell nevertheless, you have to explicitly execute the shell yourself:

my-command ; /bin/bash

See also Executing a specific command on the server.