WinSCP is a Windows FTP client featuring two user interfaces – Commander and Explorer. The former displays your local computer’s file directory alongside any remotely accessed files within one window while Explorer acts like Windows Explorer itself.
WinSCP normally considers files closed when their associated external editor closes; however, you may alter this behavior through the Preference Options feature.
SFTP
Secure File Transfer Protocol, more commonly known as SFTP, is an Internet protocol that uses encrypted network connections to transfer files between clients and servers securely. SFTP utilizes password security and public key encryption technology that prevents data from being intercepted or altered over an unsecured network. WinSCP provides free SFTP/FTP/WebDAV/WebDAV/OpenStack Swift/Backblaze B2/Microsoft Azure OneDrive/FTPS client software for Windows OS devices.
WinSCP features an Explorer-like Commander or Explorer window to display both local computer files and those hosted remotely, in separate panels. Filters for including or excluding files and directories may be set, and even duplicated files on remote shell sessions using SFTP extension copy-file or site sftp/copy-data can be set if available on server.
To upload files to Pantheon, drag files from their respective folder in the left panel to the right pane and drop. When asked to verify the identity of the server, press “Yes” so WinSCP won’t warn about connecting to an unknown host in future.
SCP
Secure Copy Protocol, commonly referred to as SCP, is a network file transfer protocol with encryption and authentication capabilities that has become increasingly popular for moving files between servers. SCP can also be used synchronize directories and files under them.
Example: ubuntu1 hosts a web server with a directory tree similar to below, then SCP allows you to back up all files located in /var/www/ to ubuntu2. For extra synchronization purposes, enable “Try to Get Full Timestamps” option to retrieve precise timestamps on each file.
People interested in weird Internet fiction commonly use “SCP” to refer to the Special Containment Procedures Foundation, an imaginary organization which investigates and archives unusual creatures and objects. Their Wiki pages record thousands of anomalies that range from cryptozoa and ghostly haunted buildings to multiversal incursions. Their Wiki has specific rules about what can and cannot be written there – it does not accept articles that offend, shock, or insult others in an offensive or shocking manner.
WebDAV
WebDAV is a protocol that enables any web server to act as a fileserver with features such as file locking and versioning, collaborative authoring capabilities within web browsers, as well as multiple client options including user-friendly graphical clients like WinSCP. Cloud storage services like Dropbox make use of WebDAV; Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud software also use it directly without copying files locally before editing.
Webdav supports two methods for retrieving properties (stored as XML) from web resources: PROPFIND and REPLACE. PROPFIND retrieves properties (stored as XML), while REPLACE replaces collections or directory hierarchies at once; REPLACE can make multiple modifications or deletions all at once, in one atomic action.
WebDAV supports several methods for copying and moving resources as well as an IF header, similar to HTTP If-Match header but designed to manage locks. WebDAV’s UNLOCK method enables resource unlocking by requiring Lock-Token header submission if applicable – otherwise it fails. WebDAV servers support either shared or exclusive locks.
Explorer interface
WinSCP goes beyond traditional file transfer commands with several useful additional utilities that make working with files simpler, such as filtering local and remote connections to hide or display certain types of files. To use this feature, simply click a button for either local or remote connections and enter an applicable mask mask value.
Bookmarks can also be saved locally for later use, making them convenient when connecting to multiple sites at the same time, and you can organize them by creating folders if necessary – for instance if you connect to a router that requires root access you could create one in Site Menu so it will be easier for you to locate this host again in future searches.
WinSCP can also add desktop shortcut icons that open its Login dialog or a particular site or workspace directly, either during installation or later using its Preferences dialog. You can do this either during setup or later through its Preferences dialog.
Logging
The Internet can be an insecure place and many stories have emerged about unauthorized parties gaining access to sensitive data through unsecure protocols like FTP and RCP (remote copy protocol), which transmit file contents in plain text format and make sensitive information vulnerable for theft. To mitigate such risks, more secure protocols like SFTP (SSH file transfer protocol) and SCP (secure copy protocol) offer better solutions – though these protocols have certain restrictions such as limited file transfer functionality and complex configuration processes that must be taken into consideration when choosing which option.
Logging is a feature of WinSCP that enables it to track events and record them in a log file. Logging can be configured from the Preferences dialog in various ways – for instance, users may select disk files with local paths for logging or set the logging level to debug 1 or 2; higher levels may significantly impact performance.
WinSCP allows users to write log messages to various destinations using various handler classes. NTEventLogHandler instances write messages directly into Windows event logs; MemoryHandler instances write directly to memory buffers; HTTPHandler instances write directly into HTTP servers; while WatchedFileHandler instances can record changes made to files they are currently monitoring.