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
sftp
to start in a remote directory.
The final usage format allows for automated sessions using the
-b
option.
In such cases, it is necessary to configure non-interactive authentication
to obviate the need to enter a password at connection time (see
sshd(8)
and
ssh-keygen1
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 , lnrm , mkdir , chdir , lslchdir , 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* )
-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_config5.
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_config5.
AddressFamily
BatchMode
BindAddress
ChallengeResponseAuthentication
CheckHostIP
Cipher
Ciphers
Compression
CompressionLevel
ConnectionAttempts
ConnectTimeout
ControlMaster
ControlPath
GlobalKnownHostsFile
GSSAPIAuthentication
GSSAPIDelegateCredentials
HashKnownHosts
Host
HostbasedAuthentication
HostKeyAlgorithms
HostKeyAlias
HostName
IdentityFile
IdentitiesOnly
KbdInteractiveDevices
LogLevel
MACs
NoHostAuthenticationForLocalhost
NumberOfPasswordPrompts
PasswordAuthentication
Port
PreferredAuthentications
Protocol
ProxyCommand
PubkeyAuthentication
RekeyLimit
RhostsRSAAuthentication
RSAAuthentication
SendEnv
ServerAliveInterval
ServerAliveCountMax
SmartcardDevice
StrictHostKeyChecking
TCPKeepAlive
UsePrivilegedPort
User
UserKnownHostsFile
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.
Pathnames that contain spaces must be enclosed in quotes.
Any special characters contained within pathnames that are recognized by
glob(3)
must be escaped with backslashes
(`\'
)
bye
Quit
sftp
cd path
Change remote directory to
path
chgrp grp path
Change group of file
path
to
grppath
may contain
glob(3)
characters and may match multiple files.
grp
must be a numeric GID.
chmod mode path
Change permissions of file
path
to
modepath
may contain
glob(3)
characters and may match multiple files.
chown own path
Change owner of file
path
to
ownpath
may contain
glob(3)
characters and may match multiple files.
own
must be a numeric UID.
exit
Quit
sftp
get
[-P
]
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.
remote-path
may contain
glob(3)
characters and may match multiple files.
If it does and
local-path
is specified, then
local-path
must specify a directory.
If the
-P
flag is specified, then full file permissions and access times 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.
ls-options
may contain any flags supported by the local system's
ls(1)
command.
path
may contain
glob(3)
characters and may match multiple files.
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
[-1aflnrSt [path
]
]
Display a remote directory listing of either
path
or the current directory if
path
is not specified.
path
may contain
glob(3)
characters and may match multiple files.
The following flags are recognized and alter the behaviour of
ls
accordingly:
-1
Produce single columnar output.
-a
List files beginning with a dot
(`.'
)
-f
Do not sort the listing.
The default sort order is lexicographical.
-l
Display additional details including permissions
and ownership information.
-n
Produce a long listing with user and group information presented
numerically.
-r
Reverse the sort order of the listing.
-S
Sort the listing by file size.
-t
Sort the listing by last modification time.
lumask umask
Set local umask to
umask
mkdir path
Create remote directory specified by
path
progress
Toggle display of progress meter.
put
[-P
]
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.
local-path
may contain
glob(3)
characters and may match multiple files.
If it does and
remote-path
is specified, then
remote-path
must specify a directory.
If the
-P
flag is specified, then the file's full permission and access time are
copied too.
