Comments for How can I automate an SFTP transfer between two servers?

Comment from Bill on 2008-11-07

2008-11-08T02:43:17Z

Hey Leo,

When I pasted the address you used before into my terminal (sftp user2@server2.com) to modify it, the CR somehow got into my copy buffer, so when I pasted it I apparently ftped into that actual address. It then locked up my system for awhile and I was unable to exit.

Do you happen to have any idea what server2.com actually is, and whether having ftped into it could have somehow compromised my system?

Thanks, Bill

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Comment from Venkat on 2008-11-06

2008-11-07T06:00:55Z

Hi Leo, I wanted to know abouty sftp, and stumbled at your site, you are a great teacher.
Accept my humble respects.
Regards,
Venkat

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Comment from sftp compression on 2008-09-24

2008-09-24T11:01:47Z

Hi,

I'm currently using the -b Batch mode reads a series of commands from an input batchfile
eg: -b batchfile user@host

Right now I have to add in the switch -C for the compresion. How I can do that with the using the above code as well with the batch file contain script like - Put command to upload the file from local to remote system.

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Comment from Gurdeep Singh on 2008-07-07

2008-07-07T12:14:03Z

Very nice document. First I want to thanks U.
1. Is there any way to write script which copy files from remote server.

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Comment from Vasant on 2008-04-03

2008-04-03T12:20:06Z

This article helps me greate.
I have one problem.
I can sftp without password from my account to abc@srvr1, but it asks fro password while sftp from my account to xyz@srvr3 even though I have copied the same public file in .ssh directory on both these severs.These both servers have same sshd_conf files.

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Comment from Yvonne on 2008-03-12

2008-03-12T22:46:11Z

Hi Leo, I tried to follow the steps you posted here but I still cannot make it work. I am trying to use SFTP to send files from HP-UX to Windows Server 2000 with a domain account setup on the Window Server. No matter what I did, I always get promoted with password. Is the public key authentication not going to work for me since this is an AD account? What's the best way I can troubleshoot this issue? Thanks.

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Comment from Francis on 2008-02-24

2008-02-24T20:58:52Z

Can this be applied to Windows 2003 to Solaris?
That is automated connection from Windows 2003 to Solaris?

Thanks

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Comment from Anju on 2007-12-05

2007-12-05T19:09:04Z

This is followup to my earlier post. I made it work sort of:

#!/bin/ksh

sftp -B commands.txt user1@pontoon

in commands.txt I have
get 1.dat 2.dat ( I want to get 1.dat and rename it to 2.dat)
quit

It gets 1.dat and complains can not find 2.dat on remote server.

Here is some other info about my system:

sftp -V
sftp: F-Secure SSH 3.1.0 (build 12) on sparc-sun-solaris2.8

thanks for reading my posts.

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Comment from Anju on 2007-12-05

2007-12-05T16:48:23Z

I am having same problem as "Manoj Das".

here is part of the post and your comment on it:

script:
sftp ncc_b2b@blrsun27
get file1.txt
exit

I have followed the steps given by you for automated connection. Once I am executing this, it's automatically connecting to the remote system and I am getting the SFTP prompt. But it's not executing the get command.

Can you please guide me how to do this now, as the -b option is not available.

Posted by: Manoj Das at October 3, 2006 07:36 AM
YOu might need to have

get file1.txt
exit

in one file (commands.txt) and then use that as input for the sftp command:

sftp

*********************

Here is my commannds.txt

commands.txt
pwd
quit

my script:

my_test_1
#!/bin/ksh
#set -x

sftp user1@pontoon

exit_status=$?

return $exit_status

For the same setup I can do scp

anju_test
#!/bin/ksh

scp user1@pontoon:$1 $2

exit_status=$?

return $exit_status

But we need to list file before copying them so I have to make sftp work for us.

thanks a lot for your help Leo.

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Comment from Leonardo on 2007-11-13

2007-11-13T18:30:04Z

Leo, excellent article!! But it has worked for me only when i try to ssh/sftp to root account on server machine (server2 in the ex.). Any other user (making all the steps for each one) fails.
Is there any trick related to that ??
Thanks in advance.

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Comment from George Schweizer on 2007-10-02

2007-10-02T21:41:42Z

Hi Leo, Thanks for the tip, great info!

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Comment from mike huber on 2007-09-18

2007-09-18T15:07:20Z

Hi Leo,

I generated rsa keys for system a and b and put both keys in authorized_keys for my user on system c.

system a connects using sftp and does not prompt for a password.

system b prompts for a password - when I provide it the connection is made.

on all 3 systems all files in .ssh are writable only by the user.

what should I be looking at to trouble shoot this?

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Comment from Andy on 2007-07-13

2007-07-13T13:01:21Z

Leo, it turns out that on server A, the authorized_keys file had permission 664. Apparently if that file is writable by anyone other than the owner, you will be challenged for a password, regardless. Once I CHMODed it to 644, the process worked flawlessly.

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Comment from Andy on 2007-07-13

2007-07-13T12:23:04Z

Leo, I put your steps to use and they work. Mostly.
Here's my situation:
3 servers, I'll call A, b and c.
A: RHEL4
b: Solaris 8 on Sparc
c: Solaris 8 on Sparc.

If I send from A to b or c, the automation works fine. If I send from b or c to A, I am challenged with a password request. b and c have A's public RSA key. A has both b and c's RSA public keys. In every case, I am the user who is also attempting the SCP connection. It is most expedient to auto send from b to A, but I can rewrite b's script to run on A, if I must. Just wondering why its only working in one direction.

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Comment from macmd on 2007-06-15

2007-06-15T11:59:57Z

If you want to automate sftp because for some reason scp doesn't work in you situation you can try "expect" You need to install it. The script would look something like this:
Replace:
DIR=local and remote directories.
IP-adress=remote server address
user=user set up on remote sftp server.

#!/usr/local/bin/expect -f -d
# Expect script that automates sftp
###################################

spawn /usr/bin/sftp user@"IP-adress"
expect "user@IP-adress's password: "
sleep 7
send Password\r"
expect "sftp> "
send "lcd DIR\r"
expect "sftp> "
send "cd DIR\r"
expect "sftp> "
send "cd DIR\r"
expect "sftp> "
sleep 10
send "mput *.pgp\r"
sleep 10
expect "sftp> "
send "bye\r"

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Comment from Cowboy on 2007-04-05

2007-04-05T14:43:21Z

This was a superb article. I am going to try getting it incorporated into our IT procedures. Thank you very much.

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2007-04-04

2007-04-04T21:13:45Z

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I don't believe so. I vaguely recall having to enable login ability for
accounts with which I want to do this.

Leo
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Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFGFBU3CMEe9B/8oqERAtkwAJ4t3CuIMp7Ld/5D+2CElHl7TeP+qQCfXJX4
8P8DihofejdoYIYiwuWF1rQ=
=7nkv
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Comment from sai on 2007-04-04

2007-04-04T13:31:15Z

Hi Leo,great advice. One additional question, if the account doesn't have a standard login shell will this automat process work?

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Comment from Rajesh Acharya on 2007-04-02

2007-04-02T12:39:35Z

We have the lprng daemon running. When we put a job on a queue, it calls a shell filter script that is suppose to sftp the file to the remote server.

The problem is, the daemon tries to connect to the remote host even though we specify the user@host2 (user is qadmin and has the keys set up both sides).

ie: scp -b qadmin@host2

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2007-03-29

2007-03-30T02:16:36Z

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Nine times out of ten, the permissions on the copy of the .ssh files and the
authorized_keys file that you copied are wrong. It needs to be owned by the
account who's .ssh directory it resides in.

Leo
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Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFGDHLeCMEe9B/8oqERAureAJ9CmSJMmSetKZZV8UaFGH2JVXRBswCbBd4I
xuTKYBGphXOrpANg7P3CqMY=
=izE9
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Comment from James on 2007-03-29

2007-03-30T00:26:21Z

Hi Leo,
Your instructions to automate my sftp transfers worked great! I've only run into one problem. When I try to change user1 on server1 to point to user3 on server2, it starts prompting for a password again. i.e. sftp user2@server2.com works fine but sftp user3@server2.com doesn't work automatically. I copied the public key from the .ssh folder on user2 over to the .ssh folder for user3 but that doesn't seem to help. What am I missing here?

Regards,
James

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Comment from Minesh Shah on 2007-03-02

2007-03-02T12:24:25Z

Hi, We need to create a kshell script to FTP files to the destination server. We have to use sftp to do so.

My concern is, how do I avoid getting password prompt when using sftp command. Please help, it is very urgent.

Thanks in advance.

Regards, Minesh Shah

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2007-01-03

2007-01-03T17:12:03Z

Check out the gazillion command line options for sftp. You can bypass the interactive prompt by specifying everything on the command line.

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Comment from kumar on 2007-01-03

2007-01-03T10:47:53Z

Hi Leo,
Nice article. I have one question though.
If I want to put a file from server1 to server2 - automatically - How do I do that?

If I do sftp user2@server2.com then it goes into interactive mode of sftp. But my problem is I want to put a file from server1 to server2 - using sftp command not from interactive prompt.

any clues on that please?

Regards
Kumar

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Comment from Ian McDermid on 2006-12-27

2006-12-27T11:34:57Z

Well written article. More of this needed on the net. My batch job now works!!!

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Comment from Mike McGinn on 2006-11-17

2006-11-17T15:35:13Z

I'm trying to write a script to connect to a server via sftp that has publickey+password authentication. Even when I put the password in a file and use the -b option, it still prompts me for a password. Is there any other way to pass the password to the remote server?

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Comment from Amit Gupta on 2006-10-18

2006-10-18T08:30:57Z

Hi Leo,
I am also following all the steps but SFTP is still asking me the password. I am having SunOs and Global Scape OS and I am trying to do automation from SunOS to GlobalScape. Is there any compatible problem. Please guide

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Comment from Bashir on 2006-10-12

2006-10-12T23:17:12Z

I have this normal ftp script that works fine, ftping files from the unix box to a windows box.
#!/usr/bin/ksh
ftp -v -n hostname user "Login" "passwd"
cd /"to dir where files need to be put"
lcd /"directory where file resides"
put filename.txt
quit
Cmd

Now I am stuck trying to sftp the file to a secure ftp server'
From a windows system using the dos prompt I have to put the following commands
Type: ftpftp-gw
Type:xxx@xxx.xxx.com
Type in password when prompted
Ftp>quit
Put C:\temp\filename.txt

Can you help me with this sftp script.

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Comment from Manoj Das on 2006-10-08

2006-10-09T04:57:35Z

Rajeswari,

I have followed the steps given by Leo and it's working fine. It's not clear from your message what's the actual problem. Can you please clarify, where you are facing the problem.

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Comment from Rajeswari on 2006-10-06

2006-10-06T10:27:45Z

Hi,
I have tried all the steps but still the automation is not working with one machine.Kindly help me out in resolving this issue

Thanks,
P.Rajeswari

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Comment from Manoj Das on 2006-10-04

2006-10-05T06:47:32Z

Thank You Leo.

It's working fine now. I have managed to Automatically connect to the remote machine and transfer the required file. All because of your help.

Once Again Thanking You Leo,
Manoj.

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2006-10-04

2006-10-04T22:39:53Z

YOu might need to have

get file1.txt
exit

in one file (commands.txt) and then use that as input for the sftp command:

sftp < commands.txt

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Comment from Manoj Das on 2006-10-03

2006-10-03T14:36:24Z

Thank you Leo.

I have checked the man pages for sftp. As you have mentioned -L, -b, -A keys are not available.

I just wanted to connect automatically to a remote system and fetch a file from that machine.
Please see the script I am having.

sftp ncc_b2b@blrsun27
get file1.txt
exit

I have follwed the steps given by you for automated connection. Once I am executing this, it's automatically connecting to the remote system and I am getting the SFTP prompt. But it's not executing the get command.

Can you please guide me how to do this now, as the -b option is not available. Should I go for SSLFTP or any other alternative to this.

Thanking You Leo.

Manoj.

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2006-09-23

2006-09-23T15:46:28Z

There are slightly different versions of sftp on different OS's. Does "man" work on your system? If so I'd try a "man sftp" and see if the documentation includes the features you need.

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Comment from Manoj Das on 2006-09-23

2006-09-23T11:12:16Z

This article is incredible Leo. Thank You.

I have seen the sftp usage options given below,
sftp [-1vC] [-A Password] [-b batchfile] [-L logfilename] [-osshopt=value] [user@]host[:file [file]]

But in my SunOS 5.9 , I am not getting the options -L, -b, -A. What could be the reason. I wanted to get a file transferred from the remote server to my server after I connect through my automated connection script. My automation script connects and gives me the SFTP prompt. It's not identifying the commends given in the batch file.

Thanking you once again for all the help.

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Comment from Joe on 2006-07-19

2006-07-19T07:58:44Z

your public/private keys are probably not compatible with the ssh server. you are probably using either OpenSSH or Putty and your server is probably using an ssh.com based package. If this is the case drop putty and use openssh, create the public and private keys then run ssh-keygen -e -f key.pub > key2.pub (where key is the name of your key) this creates a new copy of the public key which can be used on an ssh.com server. Rename the key2.pub file to key.pub (which probably means you will have to delete existing key.pub) then use the private key (which has not changed) with the new public key (ie upload the new public key). Also don't forget to change the authorisation file on the server (/home/username/.ssh or .ssh2) to accept your new key.

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Comment from An on 2006-07-04

2006-07-04T19:45:01Z

Hi!! I'm doing all the steps, but the sftp always asks me for the password. I don't know what is happning, do you?

Please, help!

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