Indiana University
  •  
  •  
  •  

In Windows, how do I transfer files using an SSH or SFTP client?

To transfer files to or from a server using SFTP, use an SSH or SFTP client. Following are three commonly used clients.

On this page:

WinSCP

  1. Open WinSCP. In the "Host name" field, enter the host name of the server to which you are connecting (e.g., quarry.uits.indiana.edu or mercury.uits.indiana.edu).

  2. In the "User name" field, enter your username for the host you specified.

  3. In the "Password" field, type the password associated with the username you entered in the previous step.

  4. Click Login.

When the software connects to your host, a window should appear with your local computer's directories on the left and the remote host's directories on the right. To move a file from your computer to the server, drag it from the left pane to the desired location in the right pane. To move a file from the server to your computer, drag it from the right pane to the desired location in the left pane.

Back to top

PuTTY

Connecting to a remote server

  1. To open the PSFTP part of the PuTTY application suite, from the Start menu, open PuTTY, and then PSFTP.

  2. With the PSFTP login window open, type open followed by the name of the host you are connecting to (e.g., open quarry.uits.indiana.edu or open mercury.uits.indiana.edu).

  3. If the Store key in cache? prompt appears, type y.

  4. At the login prompt, enter your username for the remote server.

  5. At the password prompt, enter your password associated with the username you entered in the previous step.
Exploring the file system

Once logged into the server, you will see the following command line prompt:

psftp>

To move to a different directory, use the cd command. For example, cd documents will place you in the documents directory.

To display your current directory location, use the pwd command.

When exploring directories on your local computer, use the same commands, but add l (lowercase L) at the beginning (e.g., lcd documents).

Displaying the contents of a directory

To display the contents of a directory on the server, enter dir or ls. To display the contents of a directory located on your computer, you must run a local command using !. In this case, you would enter !dir to display the contents of the current directory on your computer.

Note: For a list of more commands, you can enter help or see Transferring files with SFTP

Moving a file from your computer to a server
  1. Navigate to the directory containing the file you wish to transfer.

  2. Navigate to the directory on your computer file system to which you want to transfer the file.

  3. To transfer the file, type get filename, replacing filename with the name of the file you wish to transfer.
Moving a file from a server to your computer
  1. Navigate to the directory on your computer file system containing the file you wish to transfer.

  2. Navigate to the directory on the server file system to which you want to transfer the file.

  3. To transfer the file, type put filename, replacing filename with the name of the file you wish to transfer.

Back to top

SSH Secure Shell

Note: SSH Secure Shell Client for Windows is no longer available for download from IUware or SSH Communications. For alternative SSH and SFTP clients, see SSH/SFTP clients supported at IU

Connecting to a remote server

  1. To open a file transfer window, from the Start menu, select Programs, then SSH Secure Shell, and then Secure File Transfer Client.

    If SSH is already open, from the Window menu, select New File Transfer.

  2. From the File menu, select Connect....

  3. In the "Host Name:" field, type the name of the host to which you are connecting (e.g., quarry.uits.indiana.edu or mercury.uits.indiana.edu).

  4. In the "User Name:" field, enter your username for the host you specified. Click Connect.

  5. When you are prompted for a password, enter the password associated with the username you entered in the previous step.

When the software connects to your host, you should see the directories on your local computer on the left side, and the directories on the remote host on the right.

Note: If a Secure Shell client window opens instead of a file transfer window, the host you are connecting to does not support secure FTP.

Moving a file from your computer to a server
  1. From the Operation menu, select Upload....

  2. An Upload - Select Files window will open. Browse to and select the file you'd like to move.

  3. Click Upload.
Moving a file from a server to your computer
  1. Highlight (click) the file or folder on the server you'd like to download.

  2. From the Operation menu, select Download....

  3. A Download - Select Folder window will open. Browse to the folder where you'd like to place a copy of this file.

  4. Click Download.

Back to top