Documentation

SFTPPlus documentation

Introduction

SFTPPlus is a Managed File Transfer (MFT) software, with support for protcools like: FTPS, SFTP, HTTPS, AS2, and cloud providers like Azure, Google Cloud, and Amazon S3.

It operates as standalone software, runnig as a background service, without requiring any additional dependencies, such as a database or web server.

The configuration is done via a text file, which can be edited using any text editor, or via an embedded web-based configuration tool, which is accessible via any modern web browser.

Security, correctness, easy-of-use, and file transfer capabilites are all important factors and we focus on them in this order.

Install and Update

Find out more about how to install SFTPPlus on your system and keep it up to date.

Install
Quick product tour

Here you can find a quick introduction to installing and using SFTPPlus on Windows, Linux and Mac systems. It also included an introduction to the web-based configuration and management tool.

Quick Start
General config

Here you can find an introduction on how to configure and manage SFTPPlus.

General configuration
Authentication, Users and Admins

This section covers the users and administrators that interact with SFTPPlus. In includes documentation about SFTPPlus embedded authentication and user management capabilities. Authenticating users and admins from external sources like, local OS, Active Directory, LDAP and cloud single-sign on services is also covered here.

Authentication, Users and Admins
Server-side configuration

Reference documentation for the server-side components of SFTPPlus.

Server-side protocols
Server-side operation

Guides on configuring and managing the server-side components of SFTPPlus.

Server-side Usage Instructions
Client-side configuration

Reference documentation for the client-side components of SFTPPlus.

Client-side protocols
Client-side operation

See how to use SFTPPlus to connect it to remote servers and cloud service in order to transfer files.

Client-side Usage Instructions
Event handlers configuration

Event handlers allow you to implement custom file management processes, on top of than the standard file transfer operations.

Event handlers
Events reference

Description for every event group and event ID that can be generated by SFTPPlus and used by the event handlers.

Events Reference
Developer docs

Documentation for developers, including API reference and examples of how to itegrate SFTPPlus with your custom services and infrastructure.

Developer Documentation
Cluster documentation

Documentation for setting up and managing SFTPPlus clusters, including high availability and load balancing.

Cluster deployment
Compliance and certifications

Find out more about the supported standards, cryptographic algorithms, and certifications obligtations.

Standards, Compliance, Certification

Using the documentation

This technical documentation includes instructions for performing installation, upgrade, configuration, and operational procedures.

The information is written for administrators of Windows or Unix-like systems, familiar with file transfer protocols.

For a less technical description of SFTPPlus capabilities, check our general website pages.

We use the following methods for highlights:

A note supplements and highlights additional information. When ignored, the information presented here will not have any negative consequences.

Below is an example of a note message.

Note

It is highly recommended to define an explicit group (other than the DEFAULT_GROUP) for each application account. This will make the configuration file much easier to understand by removing any implicit behaviour associated with an unspecified group.

A warning is information which should not be ignored. The information should be understood, as otherwise it can lead to irreversible actions and undesirable consequences.

Below is an example of a warning message.

Warning

Depending on your architecture, this could change the service to make the default administrative account accessible over the Internet. Care must be taken to ensure that the default administrative account is altered or deleted.

You will notice certain terms will be colour-coded grey or blue.

Verbatim values represent terms which should be used exactly as documented. For example, a configuration option such as home_folder_path is a verbatim value. It also describes fixed values like disabled, yes or no.

The Input values serve as an example and we expect them to be altered before being used in a certain configuration.

For example, c:\Path\${USER} is expected to be modified to suit the environment used by a specific deployment, like E:\FTP-Files\${USER}.

In the documentation you will find scripts, text configuration examples and commands to provide further guidance to our readers.

Example of system administrator commands:

$ ./bin/admin-commands.sh start --configuration non-root-server.ini
# ./bin/admin-commands.sh start --configuration root-server.ini
CMD> service-start.bat --configuration windows-server.ini

Example of a single configuration option defined inside our configuration file:

[section-name/03288e36-cf6b-4bd5-a9be-f421372f17e6]
rotate_count = 5

Example of a command sent to our interactive client shell:

> set username mary

Example of code in the developer documentation:

{
  "account": {
    "home_folder_path": "/local/path/for/account",
    "uuid": "ebfbee04-17be-4d9f-b7fc-20ffed6a61a8",
    "create_home_folder": true,
    "create_home_folder_owner": "ude_team",
    "create_home_folder_group": "partners"
    "home_folder_structure": [['/some-child'], ['/another-child']]
    }
}

Icons used in the documentation:

  • For general pages

  • For configuration reference

  • For security

  • For command line

  • For server-side only

  • For client-side only

  • For cloud services

  • For cluster operations

  • For event handlers

  • For HTTP API

  • For developer documentation

The documentation covers the features and functionality for the 5.15.0 release of SFTPPlus, and was last updated on Aug 11, 2025.

 
Install