SFTP Commands

Typical SFTP session: 

   sftp gl.umbc.edu
      (The CSIT1 computer now requests username and password information.)
    cd project/data
      (On the remote machine, move to the project/data subdirectory.)
    ls
      (Get a list of the files in the current remote directory.)
    get oldstuff.txt
      (Copy the file oldstuff.txt from the remote directory.)
    get folder/olderstuff.txt
      (Also copy the file olderstuff.txt, which is in a subdirectory
      on the remote machine.)
    lcd ..
      (Move up one level in the local directory.)
    lls
      (Get a directory of the current local directory.)
    put newstuff.txt currentstuff.txt
      (Copy the local file newstuff.txt to the remote directory,
      but rename the copy currentstuff.txt.)
    quit

If you have many files to move, the mget and mput commands may help you: 

    mget *.C
      (Make a local copy of all the remote files with extension ".C")
    mput file.??
      (Make a remote copy of all the local files whose names begin with
      file. followed by two characters.)

To avoid being asked to confirm every single transfer, you might try issuing the sftp command prompt first.

In some cases, the commands binary and text may be useful, if you wish to transfer binary or text files, especially when the remote computer has a different architecture than the local one. This is especially an issue when transferring text files between a Macintosh or PC and a Unix machine.

List of SFTP commands (SFTP will abort if any of the following commands fail):

get [flags] remote-path [local-path] Retrieve the remote-path and store it on the local machine. If the local path name is not specified, it is given the same name it has on the remote machine.
put [flags] local-path [local-path] Upload local-path and store it on the remote machine. If the remote path name is not specified, it is given the same name it has on the local machine.
rename oldpath newpath Rename remote file from oldpath to newpath.
ln oldpath newpath Create a symbolic link from oldpath to newpath.
rm path Delete remote file specified by path.
lmkdir path Create local directory specified by path.
bye Quit sftp.
exit Quit sftp.
quit Quit sftp.
cd path Change remote directory to path.
lcd path Change local directory to path.
ls [path] Display remote directory listing of either path or current directory if path is not specified.
pwd Display remote working directory.
rmdir path Remove remote directory specified by path.
chgrp grp path Change group of file path to grp. grp must be a numeric GID.
chmod mode path Change permissions of file path to mode.
chown own path Change owner of file path to own. own must be a numeric UID.
symlink oldpath newpath Create a symbolic link from oldpath to newpath.
mkdir path Create remote directory specified by path.
lls [ls-options [path]] Display local directory listing of either path or current directory if path is not specified.
lpwd Print local working directory.
lumask umask Set local umask to umask.
! command Execute command in local shell.
! Escape to local shell.
? Synonym for help.
help Display help text
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