sftp.0 revision 248613 
1SFTP(1)                    OpenBSD Reference Manual                    SFTP(1)
2
3NAME
4     sftp - secure file transfer program
5
6SYNOPSIS
7     sftp [-1246Cpqrv] [-B buffer_size] [-b batchfile] [-c cipher]
8          [-D sftp_server_path] [-F ssh_config] [-i identity_file] [-l limit]
9          [-o ssh_option] [-P port] [-R num_requests] [-S program]
10          [-s subsystem | sftp_server] host
11     sftp [user@]host[:file ...]
12     sftp [user@]host[:dir[/]]
13     sftp -b batchfile [user@]host
14
15DESCRIPTION
16     sftp is an interactive file transfer program, similar to ftp(1), which
17     performs all operations over an encrypted ssh(1) transport.  It may also
18     use many features of ssh, such as public key authentication and
19     compression.  sftp connects and logs into the specified host, then enters
20     an interactive command mode.
21
22     The second usage format will retrieve files automatically if a non-
23     interactive authentication method is used; otherwise it will do so after
24     successful interactive authentication.
25
26     The third usage format allows sftp to start in a remote directory.
27
28     The final usage format allows for automated sessions using the -b option.
29     In such cases, it is necessary to configure non-interactive
30     authentication to obviate the need to enter a password at connection time
31     (see sshd(8) and ssh-keygen(1) for details).
32
33     Since some usage formats use colon characters to delimit host names from
34     path names, IPv6 addresses must be enclosed in square brackets to avoid
35     ambiguity.
36
37     The options are as follows:
38
39     -1      Specify the use of protocol version 1.
40
41     -2      Specify the use of protocol version 2.
42
43     -4      Forces sftp to use IPv4 addresses only.
44
45     -6      Forces sftp to use IPv6 addresses only.
46
47     -B buffer_size
48             Specify the size of the buffer that sftp uses when transferring
49             files.  Larger buffers require fewer round trips at the cost of
50             higher memory consumption.  The default is 32768 bytes.
51
52     -b batchfile
53             Batch mode reads a series of commands from an input batchfile
54             instead of stdin.  Since it lacks user interaction it should be
55             used in conjunction with non-interactive authentication.  A
56             batchfile of `-' may be used to indicate standard input.  sftp
57             will abort if any of the following commands fail: get, put,
58             rename, ln, rm, mkdir, chdir, ls, lchdir, chmod, chown, chgrp,
59             lpwd, df, symlink, and lmkdir.  Termination on error can be
60             suppressed on a command by command basis by prefixing the command
61             with a `-' character (for example, -rm /tmp/blah*).
62
63     -C      Enables compression (via ssh's -C flag).
64
65     -c cipher
66             Selects the cipher to use for encrypting the data transfers.
67             This option is directly passed to ssh(1).
68
69     -D sftp_server_path
70             Connect directly to a local sftp server (rather than via ssh(1)).
71             This option may be useful in debugging the client and server.
72
73     -F ssh_config
74             Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file for ssh(1).
75             This option is directly passed to ssh(1).
76
77     -i identity_file
78             Selects the file from which the identity (private key) for public
79             key authentication is read.  This option is directly passed to
80             ssh(1).
81
82     -l limit
83             Limits the used bandwidth, specified in Kbit/s.
84
85     -o ssh_option
86             Can be used to pass options to ssh in the format used in
87             ssh_config(5).  This is useful for specifying options for which
88             there is no separate sftp command-line flag.  For example, to
89             specify an alternate port use: sftp -oPort=24.  For full details
90             of the options listed below, and their possible values, see
91             ssh_config(5).
92
93                   AddressFamily
94                   BatchMode
95                   BindAddress
96                   ChallengeResponseAuthentication
97                   CheckHostIP
98                   Cipher
99                   Ciphers
100                   Compression
101                   CompressionLevel
102                   ConnectionAttempts
103                   ConnectTimeout
104                   ControlMaster
105                   ControlPath
106                   ControlPersist
107                   GlobalKnownHostsFile
108                   GSSAPIAuthentication
109                   GSSAPIDelegateCredentials
110                   HashKnownHosts
111                   Host
112                   HostbasedAuthentication
113                   HostKeyAlgorithms
114                   HostKeyAlias
115                   HostName
116                   IdentityFile
117                   IdentitiesOnly
118                   IPQoS
119                   KbdInteractiveAuthentication
120                   KbdInteractiveDevices
121                   KexAlgorithms
122                   LogLevel
123                   MACs
124                   NoHostAuthenticationForLocalhost
125                   NumberOfPasswordPrompts
126                   PasswordAuthentication
127                   PKCS11Provider
128                   Port
129                   PreferredAuthentications
130                   Protocol
131                   ProxyCommand
132                   PubkeyAuthentication
133                   RekeyLimit
134                   RhostsRSAAuthentication
135                   RSAAuthentication
136                   SendEnv
137                   ServerAliveInterval
138                   ServerAliveCountMax
139                   StrictHostKeyChecking
140                   TCPKeepAlive
141                   UsePrivilegedPort
142                   User
143                   UserKnownHostsFile
144                   VerifyHostKeyDNS
145
146     -P port
147             Specifies the port to connect to on the remote host.
148
149     -p      Preserves modification times, access times, and modes from the
150             original files transferred.
151
152     -q      Quiet mode: disables the progress meter as well as warning and
153             diagnostic messages from ssh(1).
154
155     -R num_requests
156             Specify how many requests may be outstanding at any one time.
157             Increasing this may slightly improve file transfer speed but will
158             increase memory usage.  The default is 64 outstanding requests.
159
160     -r      Recursively copy entire directories when uploading and
161             downloading.  Note that sftp does not follow symbolic links
162             encountered in the tree traversal.
163
164     -S program
165             Name of the program to use for the encrypted connection.  The
166             program must understand ssh(1) options.
167
168     -s subsystem | sftp_server
169             Specifies the SSH2 subsystem or the path for an sftp server on
170             the remote host.  A path is useful for using sftp over protocol
171             version 1, or when the remote sshd(8) does not have an sftp
172             subsystem configured.
173
174     -v      Raise logging level.  This option is also passed to ssh.
175
176INTERACTIVE COMMANDS
177     Once in interactive mode, sftp understands a set of commands similar to
178     those of ftp(1).  Commands are case insensitive.  Pathnames that contain
179     spaces must be enclosed in quotes.  Any special characters contained
180     within pathnames that are recognized by glob(3) must be escaped with
181     backslashes (`\').
182
183     bye     Quit sftp.
184
185     cd path
186             Change remote directory to path.
187
188     chgrp grp path
189             Change group of file path to grp.  path may contain glob(3)
190             characters and may match multiple files.  grp must be a numeric
191             GID.
192
193     chmod mode path
194             Change permissions of file path to mode.  path may contain
195             glob(3) characters and may match multiple files.
196
197     chown own path
198             Change owner of file path to own.  path may contain glob(3)
199             characters and may match multiple files.  own must be a numeric
200             UID.
201
202     df [-hi] [path]
203             Display usage information for the filesystem holding the current
204             directory (or path if specified).  If the -h flag is specified,
205             the capacity information will be displayed using "human-readable"
206             suffixes.  The -i flag requests display of inode information in
207             addition to capacity information.  This command is only supported
208             on servers that implement the ``statvfs@openssh.com'' extension.
209
210     exit    Quit sftp.
211
212     get [-Ppr] remote-path [local-path]
213             Retrieve the remote-path and store it on the local machine.  If
214             the local path name is not specified, it is given the same name
215             it has on the remote machine.  remote-path may contain glob(3)
216             characters and may match multiple files.  If it does and
217             local-path is specified, then local-path must specify a
218             directory.
219
220             If either the -P or -p flag is specified, then full file
221             permissions and access times are copied too.
222
223             If the -r flag is specified then directories will be copied
224             recursively.  Note that sftp does not follow symbolic links when
225             performing recursive transfers.
226
227     help    Display help text.
228
229     lcd path
230             Change local directory to path.
231
232     lls [ls-options [path]]
233             Display local directory listing of either path or current
234             directory if path is not specified.  ls-options may contain any
235             flags supported by the local system's ls(1) command.  path may
236             contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files.
237
238     lmkdir path
239             Create local directory specified by path.
240
241     ln [-s] oldpath newpath
242             Create a link from oldpath to newpath.  If the -s flag is
243             specified the created link is a symbolic link, otherwise it is a
244             hard link.
245
246     lpwd    Print local working directory.
247
248     ls [-1afhlnrSt] [path]
249             Display a remote directory listing of either path or the current
250             directory if path is not specified.  path may contain glob(3)
251             characters and may match multiple files.
252
253             The following flags are recognized and alter the behaviour of ls
254             accordingly:
255
256             -1      Produce single columnar output.
257
258             -a      List files beginning with a dot (`.').
259
260             -f      Do not sort the listing.  The default sort order is
261                     lexicographical.
262
263             -h      When used with a long format option, use unit suffixes:
264                     Byte, Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte, Petabyte,
265                     and Exabyte in order to reduce the number of digits to
266                     four or fewer using powers of 2 for sizes (K=1024,
267                     M=1048576, etc.).
268
269             -l      Display additional details including permissions and
270                     ownership information.
271
272             -n      Produce a long listing with user and group information
273                     presented numerically.
274
275             -r      Reverse the sort order of the listing.
276
277             -S      Sort the listing by file size.
278
279             -t      Sort the listing by last modification time.
280
281     lumask umask
282             Set local umask to umask.
283
284     mkdir path
285             Create remote directory specified by path.
286
287     progress
288             Toggle display of progress meter.
289
290     put [-Ppr] local-path [remote-path]
291             Upload local-path and store it on the remote machine.  If the
292             remote path name is not specified, it is given the same name it
293             has on the local machine.  local-path may contain glob(3)
294             characters and may match multiple files.  If it does and
295             remote-path is specified, then remote-path must specify a
296             directory.
297
298             If either the -P or -p flag is specified, then full file
299             permissions and access times are copied too.
300
301             If the -r flag is specified then directories will be copied
302             recursively.  Note that sftp does not follow symbolic links when
303             performing recursive transfers.
304
305     pwd     Display remote working directory.
306
307     quit    Quit sftp.
308
309     rename oldpath newpath
310             Rename remote file from oldpath to newpath.
311
312     rm path
313             Delete remote file specified by path.
314
315     rmdir path
316             Remove remote directory specified by path.
317
318     symlink oldpath newpath
319             Create a symbolic link from oldpath to newpath.
320
321     version
322             Display the sftp protocol version.
323
324     !command
325             Execute command in local shell.
326
327     !       Escape to local shell.
328
329     ?       Synonym for help.
330
331SEE ALSO
332     ftp(1), ls(1), scp(1), ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-keygen(1), glob(3),
333     ssh_config(5), sftp-server(8), sshd(8)
334
335     T. Ylonen and S. Lehtinen, SSH File Transfer Protocol,
336     draft-ietf-secsh-filexfer-00.txt, January 2001, work in progress
337     material.
338
339OpenBSD 5.3                    September 5, 2011                   OpenBSD 5.3
340