SFTP(1) General Commands Manual SFTP(1)

sftp
Secure file transfer program

sftp [-vC] [-b batchfile] [-o ssh_option] [host]

sftp [[user@]host[:file [file]]]

sftp [[user@]host[:dir[/]]]

sftp is an interactive file transfer program, similar to ftp(1), which performs all operations over an encrypted ssh(1) transport. It may also use many features of ssh, such as public key authentication and compression. sftp connects and logs into the specified host, then enters an interactive command mode.

The second usage format will retrieve files automatically if a non-interactive authentication method is used; otherwise it will do so after successful interactive authentication.

The last usage format allows the sftp client to start in a remote directory.

The options are as follows:

batchfile
Batch mode reads a series of commands from an input batchfile instead of stdin. Since it lacks user interaction it should be used in conjunction with non-interactive authentication. sftp will abort if any of the following commands fail: get, put, rename, ln, rm, mkdir, chdir, lchdir and lmkdir.
Enables compression (via ssh's -C flag)
ssh_option
Can be used to pass options to ssh in the format used in the ssh(1) configuration file. This is useful for specifying options for which there is no separate sftp command-line flag. For example, to force the use of protocol version 1 you may specify sftp -oProtocol=1.
Raise logging level. This option is also passed to ssh.

Once in interactive mode, sftp understands a set of commands similar to those of ftp(1). Commands are case insensitive and pathnames may be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces.
Quit sftp.
path
Change remote directory to path.
path
Change local directory to path.
grp path
Change group of file path to grp. grp must be a numeric GID.
mode path
Change permissions of file path to mode.
own path
Change owner of file path to own. own must be a numeric UID.
Quit sftp.
[flags] remote-path [local-path]
Retrieve the remote-path and store it on the local machine. If the local path name is not specified, it is given the same name it has on the remote machine. If the -P flag is specified, then the file's full permission and access time are copied too.
Display help text.
[ls-options [path]]
Display local directory listing of either path or current directory if path is not specified.
path
Create local directory specified by path.
oldpath newpath
Create a symbolic link from oldpath to newpath.
Print local working directory.
[path]
Display remote directory listing of either path or current directory if path is not specified.
umask
Set local umask to umask.
path
Create remote directory specified by path.
[flags] local-path [local-path]
Upload local-path and store it on the remote machine. If the remote path name is not specified, it is given the same name it has on the local machine. If the -P flag is specified, then the file's full permission and access time are copied too.
Display remote working directory.
Quit sftp.
oldpath newpath
Rename remote file from oldpath to newpath.
path
Remove remote directory specified by path.
path
Delete remote file specified by path.
oldpath newpath
Create a symbolic link from oldpath to newpath.
! command
Execute command in local shell.
!
Escape to local shell.
?
Synonym for help.

Damien Miller <djm@mindrot.org>

scp(1), ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-keygen(1), sftp-server(8), sshd(8)

T. Ylonen and S. Lehtinen, SSH File Transfer Protocol, draft-ietf-secsh-filexfer-00.txt, January 2001, work in progress material.

February 4, 2001 BSD