SFTP(1)                                            BSD General Commands Manual                                           SFTP(1)

NAME
     sftp -- secure file transfer program

SYNOPSIS
     sftp [-1246Cpqrv] [-B buffer_size] [-b batchfile] [-c cipher] [-D sftp_server_path] [-F ssh_config] [-i identity_file]
          [-o ssh_option] [-P port] [-R num_requests] [-S program] [-s subsystem | sftp_server] host
     sftp [user@]host[: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 necessary 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.

     -2      Specify the use of protocol version 2.

     -4      Forces sftp to use IPv4 addresses only.

     -6      Forces sftp to use IPv6 addresses only.

     -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, df, 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).

     -c cipher
             Selects the cipher to use for encrypting the data transfers.  This option is directly passed to ssh(1).

     -D 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.

     -F ssh_config
             Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file for ssh(1).  This option is directly passed to ssh(1).

     -i identity_file
             Selects the file from which the identity (private key) for public key authentication is read.  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
                   PKCS11Provider
                   Port
                   PreferredAuthentications
                   Protocol
                   ProxyCommand
                   PubkeyAuthentication
                   RekeyLimit
                   RhostsRSAAuthentication
                   RSAAuthentication
                   SendEnv
                   ServerAliveInterval
                   ServerAliveCountMax
                   StrictHostKeyChecking
                   TCPKeepAlive
                   UsePrivilegedPort
                   User
                   UserKnownHostsFile
                   VerifyHostKeyDNS

     -P port
             Specifies the port to connect to on the remote host.

     -p      Preserves modification times, access times, and modes from the original files transferred.

     -q      Quiet mode: disables the progress meter as well as warning and diagnostic messages from ssh(1).

     -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 64 outstanding requests.

     -r      Recursively copy entire directories when uploading and downloading.  Note that sftp does not follow symbolic links
             encountered in the tree traversal.

     -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 rec-
     ognized 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.

     df [-hi] [path]
             Display usage information for the filesystem holding the current directory (or path if specified).  If the -h flag
             is specified, the capacity information will be displayed using "human-readable" suffixes.  The -i flag requests
             display of inode information in addition to capacity information.  This command is only supported on servers that
             implement the ``statvfsATopenssh.com'' extension.

     exit    Quit sftp.

     get [-Ppr] 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 either the -P or -p flag is specified, then full file permissions and access times are copied too.

             If the -r flag is specified then directories will be copied recursively.  Note that sftp does not follow symbolic
             links when performing recursive transfers.

     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 con-
             tain 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 [-1afhlnrSt] [path]
             Display a remote directory listing of either path or the current directory if path is not specified.  path may con-
             tain 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.

             -h      When used with a long format option, use unit suffixes: Byte, Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte,
                     Petabyte, and Exabyte in order to reduce the number of digits to four or fewer using powers of 2 for sizes
                     (K=1024, M=1048576, etc.).

             -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 [-Ppr] 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 ether the -P or -p flag is specified, then full file permissions and access times are copied too.

             If the -r flag is specified then directories will be copied recursively.  Note that sftp does not follow symbolic
             links when performing recursive transfers.

     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                                                      April 12, 2014                                                      BSD