SFTP commands: Details and guide

Cerberus by Redwood provides SFTP transfer operations via a GUI or API. However, more advanced SFTP users may seek to initiate transfers from their command lines. To support these users, we’ve provided a detailed look at the various SFTP command line operations. While these operations are common across Windows, Linux and Max due to the protocol’s flexibility, specific clients and configurations may require unique commands or arguments.

Core SFTP command line operations

Session commands

Operation	Command
Open an SFTP connection	sftp (followed by user@host/remote-dir)
Close an SFTP connection	exit (quit or bye will frequently work as well)
Show your SFTP version	version
Access available SFTP commands	help or ?
Pause your SFTP session (to execute other commands)	!
Return to your session	exit

 

File commands

These commands generally take the following structure:

sftp> [command] [argument] [file-name] [target-path]

Arguments are not required, and if you leave the path blank, your commands will be executed on whatever current directory you are accessing. You can also add wildcards for file names and directories by using the asterisk (*).

Operation	Command	Example
List all files in the server’s current directory	ls (or dir)	sftp> ls /example-directory
Sort returned files by size	-s
Sort returned files by modification time	-t
Sort returned files in reverse	-r
Download a file from the server to your machine	get	sftp> get example-file /target-local-directory
Download multiple files	mget	sftp> mget *.png
Upload a file from your machine to the server	put	sftp> put example.docx /directory-path/
Upload multiple files	mput	sftp> mget /local-directory/
Delete a file on the server	rm	sftp> rm file-path
Rename a file on the server	rename	sftp> rename old-name new-name

 

Directory Commands

 

Command	Description	Example
Change your server directory	cd	sftp> cd remote-server-directory
Change your local host directory	lcd	sftp> lcd local-host-directory
Show the server directory path	pwd	sftp> pwd
Show your local host directory path	lpwd	sftp> lpwd
Create a new server directory	mkdir	sftp> mkdir new-remote-server-path
Create a new local host directory	lmkdir	sftp> lmkdir new-local-path
Delete a server directory	rmdir	sftp> rmdir remote-server-path

Cerberus FTP Server also includes remote API-based management of the SFTP server, which adds an additional layer of sophistication to your command interactions. This link will take you to a reference guide for our SFTP Server API.