[How To] Use SFTP in FileZilla with cPanel

[sergey]

Using SFTP in FileZilla with cPanel

Please note - this method is no longer supported on shared servers. This thread remains for reference purposes only. GlowHost recommends using FTPs instead.


1. Open up FileZilla and click on File -> Site Manager
2. Click on the "New". Set up your FTP connection as usual.

Account Name: Whatever you want to call it to identify the Account
Host: ftp.yourdomain.com ("yourdomain.com is your actual domain)
User: your cPanel username
Password: Your cPanel Password

3. Next, choose the connection type "SFTP using SSH2" from the FTP connection drop-down list.

4. Click on "Save" to save the settings.

[omarfilip]

I'm using the latest Filezilla - 3.3.2.1 and can't get an SFTP connection to work. I've tried it with port 22, without... and I get this error:

Status:    Connecting to 123.456.78.9...
Response:    fzSftp started
Command:    open "username@123.456.78.9" 22
Command:    Pass: ************
Status:    Connected to 123.456.78.9
Error:    Connection closed by server with exitcode 128
Error:    Could not connect to server

Any suggestions?

[Matt]

You might consider changing your FTP server to ProFTP I have seen problems with pureFTP server and sFTP on the latest cPanel builds.

[omarfilip]

I switched to ProFTP but still get the same error with SFTP.

[Matt]

Please show use the last 20 lines of your /etc/bashrc file.

[omarfilip]

Here goes, I assume you're looking for this, lines 70 through 96:

#cPanel Added Limit Protections -- BEGIN

#unlimit so we can run the whoami
ulimit -n 4096 -u 14335 -m unlimited -d unlimited -s 8192 -c 1000000 -v unlimited 2>/dev/null

LIMITUSER=$USER
if [ -e "/usr/bin/whoami" ]; then
        LIMITUSER=`/usr/bin/whoami`
fi
if [ "$LIMITUSER" != "root" ]; then
        ulimit -n 100 -u 20 -m 200000 -d 200000 -s 8192 -c 200000 -v 200000 2>/dev/null
else
        ulimit -n 4096 -u 14335 -m unlimited -d unlimited -s 8192 -c 1000000 -v unlimited 2>/dev/null
fi
#cPanel Added Limit Protections -- END

### GlowHost ###
alias dlog='cd /usr/local/apache/domlogs'
alias conf='cd /usr/local/apache/conf/'
alias myhistory='less /root/.bash_history'
alias last='last -a'

echo "$(who -m) logged IN" >> /root/.bash_history
HISTSIZE=5000
HISTTIMEFORMAT="%h/%m - %H:%M:%S "

# End GlowHost

[sergey]

Remove this quoted string. Then restart the sshd service and it will solve your issue.

echo "$(who -m) logged IN" >> /root/.bash_history

[omarfilip]

Done. Fixed. Best customer service on the Net. Right here.

Thanks!

[sergey]

Thanks for the kind words.

[omarfilip]

This is just my subjective observation, but ProFTP seems to be faster than the pureFTP server, too.