Linux Pocket Guide, 2nd Edition

Name

sftp — stdin  stdout  - file  -- opt  --help  --version

Synopsis

sftp (host username@host)

The sftp program copies files interactively and securely between two computers. (As opposed to scp, which copies files in batch.) The user interface is much like that of ftp, but ftp is not secure.

$ sftp remote.example.com
Password: ********
sftp> cd MyFiles
sftp> ls
README
file1
file2
file3
sftp> get file2
Fetching /home/smith/MyFiles/file2 to file2
sftp> quit

If your username on the remote system is different from your local one, use the username@host argument:

$ sftp [e-mail]

Command	Meaning
help	View a list of available commands.
ls	List the files in the current remote directory.
lls	List the files in the current local directory.
pwd	Print the remote working directory.
lpwd	Print the local working directory.
cd dir	Change your remote directory to be dir.
lcd dir	Change your local directory to be dir.
get file1 [file2]	Copy remote file1 to local machine, optionally renamed as file2.
put file1 [file2]	Copy local file1 to remote machine, optionally renamed as file2.
mget file*	Copy multiple remote files to the local machine using wildcards * and ?.
mput file*	Copy multiple local files to the remote machine using wildcards * and ?.
quit	Exit sftp.