Connect to a cloud server with Filezilla by using SFTP

This article describes how to connect to a cloud server with Filezilla® by using SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).

Note: We recommend using SFTP instead of FTP to ensure that the file transmission is secure. SFTP encrypts the data transferred to the FTP server and prevents unauthorized access during the transmission.

Cloud servers running Linux® come with the openssh package that includes and configures SFTP by default.

Like Secure Shell (SSH), SFTP runs on port 22 by default on cloud servers. If you have changed the port that SSH listens on, then you must use that new port for SFTP as well.

You can connect to your server by using SFTP with the root user but we recommended creating a new system user for security purposes. For more information, see Basic Cloud Server security.

Configure Filezilla

Download Filezilla and then install it. You need the following information during the configuration process:

• Hostname: The public Internet Protocol (IP) address of your cloud server.
• User: We recommend using a new system user rather than using root. However, the root user works and we are using root for this article.
• Password: The password for the user you are logging in with.

Use the following steps to configure Filezilla to use SFTP:

1. Launch Filezilla and input the following information:

   • Host: Your servers public IP address
   • Username: root (or another username if you created one on the server)
   • Password: The password for the root user or any other user being used
   • Port: Port 22 by default (unless you changed the port for SSH, and then use that port)

2. Click QuickConnect.

If you experience any issues, check the server logs to see if connections are reaching the server by using the following command:

Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® and CentOS®

check /var/log/secure

Ubuntu® operatig system and Debian®

check in /var/log/auth.log