SFTP(1) UNIX System V (February 4, 2001) SFTP(1)
NAME
sftp - secure file transfer program
SYNOPSIS
sftp [-1Cv] [-B buffer_size] [-b batchfile] [-F ssh_config]
[-o ssh_option] [-P sftp_server_path] [-R num_requests] [-S
program] [-s subsystem | sftp_server] host
sftp [[user@] host[:file[file]]]
sftp [[user@] host[:dir[/]]]
sftp-b batchfile [user@]host
DESCRIPTION
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:
-1 Specify the use of protocol version 1.
-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.
-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. A batchfile of `-' may be
used to indicate standard input. 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* ).
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SFTP(1) UNIX System V (February 4, 2001) SFTP(1)-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).
-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. For full details of the options
listed below, and their possible values, see
ssh_config(5).
AddressFamily
BatchMode
BindAddress
ChallengeResponseAuthentication
CheckHostIP
Cipher
Ciphers
Compression
CompressionLevel
ConnectionAttempts
ConnectTimeout
ControlMaster
ControlPath
GlobalKnownHostsFile
GSSAPIAuthentication
GSSAPIDelegateCredentials
Host
HostbasedAuthentication
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SFTP(1) UNIX System V (February 4, 2001) SFTP(1)
HostKeyAlgorithms
HostKeyAlias
HostName
IdentityFile
IdentitiesOnly
LogLevel
MACs
NoHostAuthenticationForLocalhost
NumberOfPasswordPrompts
PasswordAuthentication
Port
PreferredAuthentications
Protocol
ProxyCommand
PubkeyAuthentication
RhostsRSAAuthentication
RSAAuthentication
SendEnv
ServerAliveInterval
ServerAliveCountMax
SmartcardDevice
StrictHostKeyChecking
TCPKeepAlive
UsePrivilegedPort
User
UserKnownHostsFile
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VerifyHostKeyDNS
-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.
-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.
INTERACTIVE COMMANDS
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.
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]
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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.
lcd path
Change local directory to path.
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. The
-n flag will produce a long listing with user and group
information presented numerically.
By default, ls listings are sorted in lexicographical
order. This may be changed by specifying the -S (sort
by file size), -t (sort by last modification time), or
-f (don't sort at all) flags. Additionally, the sort
order may be reversed using the -r flag.
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.
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SFTP(1) UNIX System V (February 4, 2001) SFTP(1)
pwd Display remote working directory.
quit Quit sftp.
rename oldpath newpath
Rename remote file from oldpath to newpath.
rm path
Delete remote file specified by path.
rmdir path
Remove remote directory 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.
SEE ALSO
ftp(1), scp(1), ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-keygen(1),
ssh_config(5), sftp-server(8), sshd(8)
S. Lehtinen and T. Ylonen, SSH File Transfer Protocol,
draft-ietf-secsh-filexfer-00.txt, January 2001, work in
progress material.
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