Information Needed to Configure Your SFTP Client

1. Here you will find all the information that needs to be known for connecting to your cPanel account through SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol). SFTP is not just FTP over SSH; it is a totally separate protocol. Let us touch upon it before proceeding further. What is SFTP? SFTP is the abbreviation for Secure File Transfer Protocol. It is also known as Secure Shell (SSH) File Transfer Protocol. It refers to a secure version with regard to file transfer protocol. SFTP ensures that data is accessed and transferred over a secure shell data stream. It is a tool that is used for transferring files between systems. It was designed as an extension of SSH (Secure Shell) version 2.0 to ensure file transfer that is secure. The SFTP protocol enables various operations on remote files. The extra capabilities of an SFTP client include remote file removal, resumption of interrupted transfers, and directory listings. SFTP has tried to be platform-independent and SFTP servers are usually available on most platforms. To digress, servers are of many types. Web servers are a type of servers. These are used by web hosting service providers for web hosting. In web hosting, space on web servers is provided to the owners of websites for storing the files of their websites. The necessary technologies and services are also provided to ensure the secure delivery of these files over the Internet from the servers to the devices of users on which they browse the websites. This is how the service of web hosting renders websites accessible over the Internet. The most trusted and preferred web hosting service providers are commonly referred to as the “Best Website Hosting Company”, or as the “Best Cloud Hosting Company”or as the “Best Windows Hosting Company” etc. Back to our main topic, SFTP is frequently used as SSH protocol version 2 implementations’ subsystem. However, it is possible to run it over SSH-1 as well as over other data streams. When an SFTP server is run over SSH-1, it does not remain platform- independent. This happens because SSH-1 does not support subsystem’s concept. Hence,

2. an SFTP client that wants to connect to an SSH-1 sever, should be aware of the path to the SFTP server binary on the server side. SFTP is a file protocol that transfers files of large sizes over the web. It builds on FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and includes the security components of SSH (Secure Shell). Secure Shell is Internet security’s cryptographic component. SFTP transfers files securely with the aid of SSH as well as encrypted FTP commands. This helps to avert password sniffing and also prevents sensitive information from being exposed. SFTP also provides protection against man-in-the-middle-attacks, as the client is required to be authenticated by the server. Hence, SFTP proves to be very useful in such situations that require the protection of sensitive data. Information Required for SFTP Client Configuration The information that is required by SFTP clients to connect to a server are mentioned below. These are mentioned in no particular order. Hostname–It refers to the server’s hostname. It should be a valid hostname or IP address. SSH port number– It refers to the port number on which sshd listens. It should be a valid positive integer. Security– It is about the client combining FTP and SFTP functionality. Username– It is the SSH username that is used by a client to connect to the server. It should be a valid cPanel account username or root. An FTP account cannot be used to connect via SFTP. Password– It is the password of the SSH user. It needs to be a secure password. Private key– It refers to the private key of the SSH user. It has to do with the path to a private key file on one’s local computer. The users of cPanel are able to generate as well as download a private key through the SSH Access interface of cPanel. cPanel >> Home >>Security >> SSH Access. A private key can be generated and downloaded by a root user through the Manage root’s SSH Keys interface in WHM. WHM >> Home >> Security Center >> Manage root’s SSH keys. It needs to mentioned here that you might come across the warning which says that the host key of the server is unknown. In order to ensure that this message doesn’t appear again, you need to accept the key and subsequently store it in your local computer. Now that you have all the necessary information, you are fully prepared to configure your SFTP client. Source: https://www.htshosting.org/knowledge-base/technology/142/information- needed-to-configure-your-sftp-client