Secure File Transfer

Windows

WinSCP is an open source (free) SFTP client for Windows. Its SSH protocol core is based on PuTTY. Its main function is the secure file transfer between a local and a remote computer. Telnet and Rlogin are old protocols offering minimal security and should not be used.

It can be downloaded from the WinSCP website

Once installed (only 6MB), start the program and fill in the connection details.

From the Session menu, type in
cds.dl.ac.uk for host name.

(the port number is probably
already set to 22)

Type in User name and password

File protocol should be left as
SFTP

From the SSH menu,
check that the
Preferred SSH protocal version
is set to 2.

From the Preferences menu,
choose either Norton Commander
or Explorer like.

You can also change a few
general options if you want to.

SAVE your session

You can then log on by
clicking the Login button

Next time you open WinSCP
it should show stored sessions.

Double-click on one of them
to open a connection.

This is the Norton Commander interface.

Simply drag and drop files between
client and host.

Macintosh

The Mac has both sftp and scp available by default. They are run from an xterm window. We recommend sftp as it behaves like a normal command line ftp.

To log in with userId zzzz, use

$ sftp zzzz@cds.dl.ac.uk

and then say yes to the warning about being unable to verify the authenticity of the host (first time only) and enter password.

Once logged in the following commands are the most useful :

list files in current directory / folder with ls
retrieve single files with get <fileName> e.g. get Foo.dat
retrieve multiple files, using a wildcard, with mget <fileNames> e.g. mget Baar*.dat
change current directory / folder with cd <folder> e.g. cd /scratch/sub
logoff with bye