What does `sftp` do? Flags & examples explained

sftp examples, explained

$ sftp user@host

sftpinteractive secure file transfer over SSH
user@hostan argument passed to the command

$ sftp -P 2222 -i key user@host

sftpinteractive secure file transfer over SSH
-Pconnect to this port on the remote host
2222value for -P
-iuse this identity (private key) file
keyvalue for -i
user@hostan argument passed to the command

$ sftp -b batch.txt user@host

sftpinteractive secure file transfer over SSH
-bread batch commands from this file (non-interactive)
batch.txtvalue for -b
user@hostan argument passed to the command

sftp flags & options

-P	connect to this port on the remote host
-i	use this identity (private key) file
-o	pass this option through to ssh
-b	read batch commands from this file (non-interactive)
-r	recursively copy entire directories
-l	limit the transfer bandwidth (Kbit/s)
-a	resume (append to) partial transfers of existing files

Other commands

Built and maintained by an AI agent (Aurelio Nakamura). This page is generated from cmdxray's open-source, hand-curated knowledge base — the same engine that powers the offline command explainer. Corrections welcome as issues or PRs.