Documentation
10.12. Command-Line Administration-Shell¶
10.12.1. Introduction¶
A command-line shell is provided to access the SFTPPlus management interface.
It is recommended to start the shell from the SFTPPlus installation folder.
On Unix-like systems, the admin-shell is available as:
$ cd /opt/SFTPPlus
$ ./bin/admin-shell.sh
On Windows systems, the admin-shell is available as:
CMD> cd "C:\Program Files\SFTPPlus"
CMD> admin-shell.bat
All Unix-like and Windows versions provide the same command-line arguments and shell commands. We use the generic admin-shell name for both types of executable files.
All commands to be executed in the administration's shell are prefixed with:
>
The admin-shell script is provided as a tool to help with troubleshooting or administrative tasks, without requiring an external tool.
In the case that you are using or planning to use admin-shell in production, your feedback and comments are welcome. They help us improve it and extend the scope of its usage.
10.12.2. Connecting to the management interface¶
The default admin-shell command will try to connect to the SFTPPlus administration interface running at https://localhost:10020 using the default configuration/self_signed_certificate.pem certificate.
You can specify a different address for the SFTPPlus Local Manager interface by setting it as a command line argument.
On Unix-like systems, the command would be:
$ ./bin/admin-shell.sh -a https://sftp-mgmt.example.com:2020
On Windows systems, the command would be:
CMD> bin\admin-shell.bat -a https://sftp-mgmt.example.com:2020
If the SFTPPlus Local Manager interface is not using the default self-signed certificate, you can start admin-shell using a different certificate. This can be the server's certificate itself or a Certificate Authority's certificate.
$ ./bin/admin-shell.sh -c /path/to/your/CA-or-server-cert.pem
10.12.3. Shell operation¶
When the admin-shell script is started, it will attempt to connect and authenticate to the SFTPPlus management interface.
If no administrator name or password was provided as command line arguments, admin-shell will ask for these details.
Upon a successful connection you will see a prompt such as:
Administrator name: admin
Password: PASSWORD-NOT-ECHOED
Connecting to https://localhost:10020 as admin.
Connected.
SFTPPlus (3.47.0) command line administration shell
>
After that, you can start entering admin-shell commands. To show all available commands:
> help
To find more details about a command:
> help COMMAND_NAME
For example, to show more details about the command show:
> help show
10.12.4. Scripting integration and password security¶
The admin-shell can be integrated in scripts by having all the options and command passed via the command line arguments.
It can read the password from the following sources:
interactive without echo (safe): admin-shell (without any password argument)
direct command line argument: admin-shell -p YOUR-PASSWORD
file at a path defined via command line argument: admin-shell -p /path/to/your/password/file
piped from another command: echo YOUR-PASSWORD | admin-shell -p -
You should replace echo "YOUR-PASS" with your password manager. We used echo just as an example.
On Unix-like systems, the command would look like this.
$ echo "YOUR PASS" | ./bin/admin-shell.sh -u admin -p - show failures