Transfer Files Using SFTP

Objective

Transfer files between your local machine and a server running in the cloud.

Table of Contents

Overview

If you have configured your SSH user preferences and settings to utilize the ssh:// protocol connection method, you can transfer files using the SFTP protocol. The SFTP file transfer capability is not available if you have configured your SSH settings to either the Java Web Start™ or Java Applet connection methods.

Prerequisites

• A running cloud instance
• Valid key authentication for establishing a secure shell connection.  The type of required key authentication varies depending on the underlying machine image and your SSH user preferences and settings.
• 'server_login' and 'server_superuser' if you are running RightImage 5.7 and lower (both roles will need to be enabled to be able to SSH into a server). If you are running 5.8 or newer, like with 5.7 and lower, you can have both roles enabled or you can have either 'server_login' (which allows you to login as the user of the account without root access) and 'server_superuser' (which allows you to login as root to the server). For more information, see RightScale Account and User Management. 
• If you're using a cloud that support security groups to control the instance's firewall permissions (e.g. AWS) you must configure the security group to allow SSH access over TCP port 22. See Create a New Security Group.
• If you are using a VLAN cloud that uses IP port forwarding instead of security groups to control an instance's firewall permissions (e.g. CloudStack, Rackspace, etc.) you must set up a port forwarding rule for TCP port 22 to allow SSH access. See Create new Port Forwarding Rules.
• Requires 'server_login' user role privileges to SSH into a server from the RightScale dashboard.
• Requires the ssh:// protocol SSH user setting.
• An SFTP client on your local machine properly configured to utilize SSH private key authentication.

Steps

At the server level, use the following steps to transfer files using SFTP.

1. Navigate to the running server show page.
2. Click either the SFTP File Transfer button or the SFTP link as shown below.

3. Depending on your operating system and browser version, you may be prompted to select the SFTP client that you want to use to transfer files.
4. Use your SFTP client of choice to transfer files to/from the running server. See the operating instructions for your SFTP client for detailed information on file transfer procedures.

NOTE: As indicated above, the SFTP file transfer capability is only available if your SSH settings are configured to use the ssh:// protocol.

See Also

• How do I configure my native SSH client to work with RightScale?