sftp —
secure file transfer program
sftp |
[-vC1]
[-b batchfile]
[-o ssh_option]
[-s subsystem | sftp_server]
[-B buffer_size]
[-F ssh_config]
[-P sftp_server path]
[-R num_requests]
[-S program] host |
sftp |
[[user@]host[:file
[file]]] |
sftp |
[[user@]host[:dir[/]]] |
sftp |
-b batchfile
[user@]host |
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 third usage format allows the sftp client to start in a remote
directory.
The final usage format allows for automated sessions using the
-b option. In such cases, it is usually necessary to
configure public key authentication to obviate the need to enter a password
at connection time (see sshd(8) and
ssh-keygen(1) for details). The options are as
follows:
-b
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,
ls, lchdir,
chmod, chown,
chgrp, lpwd and
lmkdir. Termination on error can be suppressed on
a command by command basis by prefixing the command with a
‘-’ character (for example,
-rm /tmp/blah*).
-o
ssh_option- Can be used to pass options to
ssh in the format
used in ssh_config(5). This is useful for specifying
options for which there is no separate sftp
command-line flag. For example, to specify an alternate port use:
sftp -oPort=24.
-s
subsystem | sftp_server- Specifies the SSH2 subsystem or the path for an sftp server on the remote
host. A path is useful for using
sftp over
protocol version 1, or when the remote sshd(8) does not
have an sftp subsystem configured.
-v- Raise logging level. This option is also passed to ssh.
-B
buffer_size- Specify the size of the buffer that
sftp uses when
transferring files. Larger buffers require fewer round trips at the cost
of higher memory consumption. The default is 32768 bytes.
-C- Enables compression (via ssh's
-C flag).
-F
ssh_config- Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file for
ssh(1). This option is directly passed to
ssh(1).
-P
sftp_server path- Connect directly to a local sftp server (rather than via
ssh(1)) This option may be useful in debugging the
client and server.
-R
num_requests- Specify how many requests may be outstanding at any one time. Increasing
this may slightly improve file transfer speed but will increase memory
usage. The default is 16 outstanding requests.
-S
program- Name of the program to use for the encrypted
connection. The program must understand ssh(1)
options.
-1- Specify the use of protocol version 1.
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.
bye- Quit
sftp.
cd
path- Change remote directory to path.
lcd
path- Change local directory to path.
chgrp
grp path- Change group of file path to
grp. grp must be a numeric
GID.
chmod
mode path- Change permissions of file path to
mode.
chown
own path- Change owner of file path to
own. own must be a numeric
UID.
exit- Quit
sftp.
get
[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.
help- Display help text.
lls
[ls-options [path]]- Display local directory listing of either path or
current directory if path is not specified.
lmkdir
path- Create local directory specified by path.
ln
oldpath newpath- Create a symbolic link from oldpath to
newpath.
lpwd- Print local working directory.
ls
[flags] [path]- Display remote directory listing of either path or
current directory if path is not specified. If the
-l flag is specified, then display additional
details including permissions and ownership information.
lumask
umask- Set local umask to umask.
mkdir
path- Create remote directory specified by path.
progress- Toggle display of progress meter.
put
[flags] local-path
[remote-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.
pwd- Display remote working directory.
quit- Quit
sftp.
rename
oldpath newpath- Rename remote file from oldpath to
newpath.
rmdir
path- Remove remote directory specified by path.
rm
path- Delete remote file specified by path.
symlink
oldpath newpath- Create a symbolic link from oldpath to
newpath.
version- Display the
sftp protocol version.
- ! command
- Execute command in local shell.
- !
- Escape to local shell.
- ?
- Synonym for help.
scp(1), ssh(1),
ssh-add(1), ssh-keygen(1),
ssh_config(5), 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.