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SFTP(1)                   BSD General Commands Manual                  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 sftp to start in a remote directory.

     The final usage format allows for automated sessions using the -b option.  In such cases, it is neces-sary necessary
     sary to configure non-interactive 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 follow-ing following
             ing 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 pre-fixing prefixing
             fixing 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_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
                   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 use-ful useful
             ful 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 grp.  path 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 mode.  path may contain glob(3) characters and may match
             multiple files.

     chown own path
             Change owner of file path to own.  path 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 con-tain contain
             tain 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 spec-ified. specified.
             ified.  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 speci-fied, specified,
             fied, 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 per-mission permission
             mission and access time are copied too.

     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), ls(1), scp(1), ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-keygen(1), glob(3), 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.

BSD                            February 4, 2001                            BSD

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