How to set up sFTP connection to Proxmox

Yes, you can upload and download files from a Proxmox server through an sFTP connection, and here's how.

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Proxmox sFTP connection

On Proxmox, you can connect to the server via an FTP client to upload or download files, and in this guide, you will learn how.

Although you can upload, download, and view files through the Proxmox web interface, the experience is limited and doesn’t work like a traditional file manager. Also, you can only upload one file (such as an ISO file) at a time.

However, if you want a more traditional file experience with the ability to upload multiple ISO files at the same time, you can connect to the server using an sFTP connection with any FTP client application (such as Filezilla).

This guide will teach you the steps to connect to Proxmox through an FTP client.

Connect to Proxmox server from sFTP

To connect to a Proxmox server through an sFTP client, use these steps:

  1. Open FTP client.

  2. Confirm the sftp://10.1.4.154 address of your Proxmox server in the “Host” setting.

    Proxmox connection via sFTP

    In this step, update the IP address for the address that connects to your server.

  3. Confirm the “root” as the username.

  4. Confirm the password for the account.

  5. Click the Connect button.

  6. Accept the sFTP certificate to establish a secure connection.

Once you complete the steps, the connection will establish, and you can start uploading files by right-clicking one or multiple files from the left and selecting the “Upload” option. If you want to download a file from the server, you have to select, right-click the file, and choose the “Download” option from the right side.

When you connect to the Proxmox server via sFTP, you will open the “root” directory. However, you want to avoid uploading files in this location. Instead, you want to upload your files to one of the known locations. For example, to the “iso” directory to upload one or multiple ISO images for the different operating systems you want to install. The “images” directory is where the virtual machines will be stored in the Proxmox server.

If you added a new drive to Proxmox, the directories would be available from the /mnt/mount_name/. Otherwise, the directories will be located in /var/lib/vz.