FTP programs which support ssh keys (Mac and perhaps Linux)

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by AlphaNumeric, Apr 25, 2012.

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  1. AlphaNumeric Fully ionized Registered Senior Member

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    I'm after some sort of FTP file manager program which allows me to log into a server using an ssh key rather than a password. Obviously I could set the server to accept passwords too but that's a security exploit path I don't want to leave open. Anyone got any recommendations? If a Linux one is known (or one with both Mac and Linux implementations) then I'd be interested in hearing about it too. Thanks

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  3. Chipz Banned Banned

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    You really want SFTP. I rarely use GUI, but gFTP has always been reliable when I want it, available on just about every platform.
     
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  5. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

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    PuTTy is an older SSH client, you'd need the PSFTP download for secure FTP.
    http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

    The main idea behind SFTP is to use the Secure Tunnel that Secure Shell uses for the FTP, this usually means creating the tunnel through a SSH client-server pairing with a user account registered to the server, then initiating the FTP from within the tunnel. This means the password can be in a standard password format however it's never seen as "plaintext" via potential third-parties since the tunnels are meant to create Point-to-Point encryption which uses session created algorithms to reduce chances of captured packets allowing for the encryption cracked over multiple sessions.

    Just creating a SSH key instead of a password and using plain FTP protocols for transfer wouldn't make the FTP server any more secure.

    You could also look for FTPS (That's FTP over a SSL connection)
    SSL is usually seen implemented as HTTPS, where-by a paired session key is created when a site is accessed via a client and the browser deals with creating a cryptographic tunnel, again to obfuscate any "plaintext" information shared between the client and server.
     
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  7. AlphaNumeric Fully ionized Registered Senior Member

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    Turns out secure copy can do it in the command line. I was wondering about a client because I didn't know how to copy from another computer using the command line but that's how you do it, it sorts out the key hand shake like a normal log in procedure would. Command line also makes it easier to script up some stuff I need to do. Thanks

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  8. Chipz Banned Banned

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    Ah. If you can use SCP you can probably use Rsync

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