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Last Reviewed: February 18, 2020

SFTP Access and Authentication

Access your SFTP Connection Info and authenticate your SFTP client.

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This section provides information on how to access the SFTP Connection Info in your dashboard, and how to authenticate your SFTP client.

SFTP Connection Info

  1. Go to the Site Dashboard.

  2. Click Connect with SFTP. Your connection credentials will be displayed along with a button to connect directly with your preferred client.

    SFTP Connection Data

The connection information may differ from what you've used in the past. The information is based on your unique Site ID (the long string at the end of your Dashboard URL).

Example Connection Info:

host: appserver.dev.site-id.drush.in

user: dev.site-id

port: 2222

Note

Remember to specify the SFTP protocol and connect to your environment using port 2222 when you set up your SFTP client.

Connect to an Environment Over SFTP

You can connect to an environment over SFTP with your terminal. The command to do this can be copied from the Connect with SFTP widget.

  1. Ensure that you have configured your preferred editor, including a folder for your site, and an SFTP extension if necessary.

  2. Run SFTP: config or a similar command depending on your editor.

  3. Open the config file and update it with your Pantheon SFTP credentials.

    Example credentials:

    name: Anita Server Name
host: appserver.dev.***-*****-***-****
protocol: sftp
port: 2222
username: anita-username
remotePath: /code/
uploadOnSave: true

  4. Verify that the remotePath value is set to /code/ and that uploadOnSave is set to true. Saved changes will now be pushed automatically to Pantheon.

There is also a one-click option to connect with a GUI client. The main directory listing includes Pantheon, logs, environment data, and configuration. Your website is in the code directory. For instance, in Cyberduck on MacOS :

Cyberduck Example

SFTP File Uploads to Test and Live Environments

You can use SFTP to upload files to your site's files directory in the Test and Live environments. Note that SFTP mode does NOT allow you to upload files to the Code directory in the Test or Live environment.

  1. Go to the Site Dashboard.

  2. Select the Test or Live environment and click Connection Info.

  3. Click the Open in SFTP client link under Client. You may need to copy your Host and Port information to connect to your client if you have not already configured the connection.

Refer to Large File Transfers with rsync and SFTP if you need to transfer large files to your environments.

Authenticating

SSH Keys

Pantheon does not provide access to a shell environment over SSH. These directions allow you to have passwordless access if you configure Git, SFTP, or Drush to use SSH keys.

You should load your public SSH key into your account to take full advantage of Pantheon. SSH keys are a best practice for authentication, allowing you more security than a simple password. You only have to configure this once, no matter how many sites you work on. Refer to Generate and Add SSH Keys for more information.

Dashboard Credentials

Use your Pantheon Dashboard login password if you are prompted for a password when connecting to the platform.

Heads Up!

Dashboard Credentials as an authentication method will be retired on Apr 30, 2024. Please refer to the steps above to authenticate SFTP via SSH keys.

Larger agencies with multiple developers using password authentication to login may see access issues across the workspace. We strongly recommend using SSH keys to avoid potential authentication failures. Refer to Pantheon Workspaces FAQs more information.

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