--- title: "SFTP" description: "SFTP" date: "2017-02-01" --- SFTP ---------------------------------------- SFTP is the [Secure (or SSH) File Transfer Protocol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSH_File_Transfer_Protocol). The SFTP backend can be used with a number of different providers: * {{< provider name="C14" home="https://www.online.net/en/storage/c14-cold-storage" config="/sftp/#c14" >}} * {{< provider name="rsync.net" home="https://rsync.net/products/rclone.html" config="/sftp/#rsync-net" >}} SFTP runs over SSH v2 and is installed as standard with most modern SSH installations. Paths are specified as `remote:path`. If the path does not begin with a `/` it is relative to the home directory of the user. An empty path `remote:` refers to the user's home directory. "Note that some SFTP servers will need the leading / - Synology is a good example of this. rsync.net, on the other hand, requires users to OMIT the leading /. Here is an example of making an SFTP configuration. First run rclone config This will guide you through an interactive setup process. ``` No remotes found - make a new one n) New remote s) Set configuration password q) Quit config n/s/q> n name> remote Type of storage to configure. Choose a number from below, or type in your own value [snip] XX / SSH/SFTP Connection \ "sftp" [snip] Storage> sftp SSH host to connect to Choose a number from below, or type in your own value 1 / Connect to example.com \ "example.com" host> example.com SSH username, leave blank for current username, ncw user> sftpuser SSH port, leave blank to use default (22) port> SSH password, leave blank to use ssh-agent. y) Yes type in my own password g) Generate random password n) No leave this optional password blank y/g/n> n Path to unencrypted PEM-encoded private key file, leave blank to use ssh-agent. key_file> Remote config -------------------- [remote] host = example.com user = sftpuser port = pass = key_file = -------------------- y) Yes this is OK e) Edit this remote d) Delete this remote y/e/d> y ``` This remote is called `remote` and can now be used like this: See all directories in the home directory rclone lsd remote: Make a new directory rclone mkdir remote:path/to/directory List the contents of a directory rclone ls remote:path/to/directory Sync `/home/local/directory` to the remote directory, deleting any excess files in the directory. rclone sync /home/local/directory remote:directory ### SSH Authentication ### The SFTP remote supports three authentication methods: * Password * Key file * ssh-agent Key files should be PEM-encoded private key files. For instance `/home/$USER/.ssh/id_rsa`. Only unencrypted OpenSSH or PEM encrypted files are supported. If you don't specify `pass` or `key_file` then rclone will attempt to contact an ssh-agent. You can also specify `key_use_agent` to force the usage of an ssh-agent. In this case `key_file` can also be specified to force the usage of a specific key in the ssh-agent. Using an ssh-agent is the only way to load encrypted OpenSSH keys at the moment. If you set the `--sftp-ask-password` option, rclone will prompt for a password when needed and no password has been configured. ### ssh-agent on macOS ### Note that there seem to be various problems with using an ssh-agent on macOS due to recent changes in the OS. The most effective work-around seems to be to start an ssh-agent in each session, eg eval `ssh-agent -s` && ssh-add -A And then at the end of the session eval `ssh-agent -k` These commands can be used in scripts of course. ### Modified time ### Modified times are stored on the server to 1 second precision. Modified times are used in syncing and are fully supported. Some SFTP servers disable setting/modifying the file modification time after upload (for example, certain configurations of ProFTPd with mod_sftp). If you are using one of these servers, you can set the option `set_modtime = false` in your RClone backend configuration to disable this behaviour. ### Standard Options Here are the standard options specific to sftp (SSH/SFTP Connection). #### --sftp-host SSH host to connect to - Config: host - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_HOST - Type: string - Default: "" - Examples: - "example.com" - Connect to example.com #### --sftp-user SSH username, leave blank for current username, ncw - Config: user - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_USER - Type: string - Default: "" #### --sftp-port SSH port, leave blank to use default (22) - Config: port - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_PORT - Type: string - Default: "" #### --sftp-pass SSH password, leave blank to use ssh-agent. - Config: pass - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_PASS - Type: string - Default: "" #### --sftp-key-file Path to PEM-encoded private key file, leave blank or set key-use-agent to use ssh-agent. - Config: key_file - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_KEY_FILE - Type: string - Default: "" #### --sftp-key-file-pass The passphrase to decrypt the PEM-encoded private key file. Only PEM encrypted key files (old OpenSSH format) are supported. Encrypted keys in the new OpenSSH format can't be used. - Config: key_file_pass - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_KEY_FILE_PASS - Type: string - Default: "" #### --sftp-key-use-agent When set forces the usage of the ssh-agent. When key-file is also set, the ".pub" file of the specified key-file is read and only the associated key is requested from the ssh-agent. This allows to avoid `Too many authentication failures for *username*` errors when the ssh-agent contains many keys. - Config: key_use_agent - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_KEY_USE_AGENT - Type: bool - Default: false #### --sftp-use-insecure-cipher Enable the use of the aes128-cbc cipher and diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256, diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1 key exchange. Those algorithms are insecure and may allow plaintext data to be recovered by an attacker. - Config: use_insecure_cipher - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_USE_INSECURE_CIPHER - Type: bool - Default: false - Examples: - "false" - Use default Cipher list. - "true" - Enables the use of the aes128-cbc cipher and diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256, diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1 key exchange. #### --sftp-disable-hashcheck Disable the execution of SSH commands to determine if remote file hashing is available. Leave blank or set to false to enable hashing (recommended), set to true to disable hashing. - Config: disable_hashcheck - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_DISABLE_HASHCHECK - Type: bool - Default: false ### Advanced Options Here are the advanced options specific to sftp (SSH/SFTP Connection). #### --sftp-ask-password Allow asking for SFTP password when needed. - Config: ask_password - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_ASK_PASSWORD - Type: bool - Default: false #### --sftp-path-override Override path used by SSH connection. This allows checksum calculation when SFTP and SSH paths are different. This issue affects among others Synology NAS boxes. Shared folders can be found in directories representing volumes rclone sync /home/local/directory remote:/directory --ssh-path-override /volume2/directory Home directory can be found in a shared folder called "home" rclone sync /home/local/directory remote:/home/directory --ssh-path-override /volume1/homes/USER/directory - Config: path_override - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_PATH_OVERRIDE - Type: string - Default: "" #### --sftp-set-modtime Set the modified time on the remote if set. - Config: set_modtime - Env Var: RCLONE_SFTP_SET_MODTIME - Type: bool - Default: true ### Limitations ### SFTP supports checksums if the same login has shell access and `md5sum` or `sha1sum` as well as `echo` are in the remote's PATH. This remote checksumming (file hashing) is recommended and enabled by default. Disabling the checksumming may be required if you are connecting to SFTP servers which are not under your control, and to which the execution of remote commands is prohibited. Set the configuration option `disable_hashcheck` to `true` to disable checksumming. SFTP also supports `about` if the same login has shell access and `df` are in the remote's PATH. `about` will return the total space, free space, and used space on the remote for the disk of the specified path on the remote or, if not set, the disk of the root on the remote. `about` will fail if it does not have shell access or if `df` is not in the remote's PATH. Note that some SFTP servers (eg Synology) the paths are different for SSH and SFTP so the hashes can't be calculated properly. For them using `disable_hashcheck` is a good idea. The only ssh agent supported under Windows is Putty's pageant. The Go SSH library disables the use of the aes128-cbc cipher by default, due to security concerns. This can be re-enabled on a per-connection basis by setting the `use_insecure_cipher` setting in the configuration file to `true`. Further details on the insecurity of this cipher can be found [in this paper] (http://www.isg.rhul.ac.uk/~kp/SandPfinal.pdf). SFTP isn't supported under plan9 until [this issue](https://github.com/pkg/sftp/issues/156) is fixed. Note that since SFTP isn't HTTP based the following flags don't work with it: `--dump-headers`, `--dump-bodies`, `--dump-auth` Note that `--timeout` isn't supported (but `--contimeout` is). ## C14 {#c14} C14 is supported through the SFTP backend. See [C14's documentation](https://www.online.net/en/storage/c14-cold-storage) ## rsync.net {#rsync-net} rsync.net is supported through the SFTP backend. See [rsync.net's documentation of rclone examples](https://www.rsync.net/products/rclone.html).