PySFTP

0.2.9 · abandoned · verified Mon Apr 06

PySFTP is a Python library that provides a simplified, high-level interface for Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) operations. It acts as a wrapper around the lower-level Paramiko library, aiming to make common SFTP tasks more approachable. The current version, 0.2.9, was released in July 2016, and the project appears to be unmaintained with no new releases since then.

Warnings

breaking PySFTP is incompatible with Paramiko versions 4.0.0 and newer. Paramiko 4.0.0 removed the `DSSKey` class, which `pysftp` directly imports, leading to an `ImportError` when `paramiko >= 4.0.0` is installed.
Fix: Pin your `paramiko` dependency to a version less than 4.0.0 (e.g., `paramiko < 4.0.0`). For new projects, consider migrating to `paramiko` directly or a more actively maintained SFTP library.
gotcha The PySFTP project has been inactive since its last release in July 2016. This means it may contain unpatched security vulnerabilities from its underlying dependencies (Paramiko) or within PySFTP itself, and lacks support for modern SSH features (e.g., newer key types like Ed25519, ECDSA).
Fix: Evaluate the security risks for your specific use case. For new development or applications requiring strong security, it is highly recommended to use `paramiko` directly or an actively maintained alternative SFTP client library.
gotcha Disabling host key checking by setting `cnopts.hostkeys = None` is often shown in examples for convenience but exposes your connection to Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks. This is a severe security vulnerability for production environments.
Fix: Always implement proper host key verification. Load known hosts from a file (e.g., `cnopts.hostkeys.load('/path/to/known_hosts')`) or explicitly add server keys. Never disable host key checking in production.
gotcha The recursive file transfer methods (`pysftp.Connection.put_r()` and `pysftp.Connection.get_r()`) are reported to have issues and may not function correctly on Windows operating systems.
Fix: On Windows, consider implementing recursive transfers manually by iterating through directories with `pysftp.Connection.listdir()` and using individual `get()`/`put()` calls, or use `paramiko` directly for more robust control.

Install

pip install pysftp Install with pip

Imports

Connection
```
from pysftp import Connection
```

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to establish an SFTP connection using `pysftp.Connection` with a context manager, upload a local file, download a remote file, and list the contents of the current remote directory. It highlights the importance of host key verification, showing a common (but insecure for production) method to disable it for testing purposes. Credentials are retrieved from environment variables for security.

import pysftp
import os

# It is highly recommended to NOT disable host key checking in production.
# For proper security, manage known_hosts or explicitly add server keys.
cnopts = pysftp.CnOpts()
# !!! In production, configure hostkeys properly. DO NOT SET TO NONE. !!!
# For demonstration, we disable it here for easier local testing. 
cnopts.hostkeys = None 

HOSTNAME = os.environ.get('SFTP_HOSTNAME', 'sftp.example.com')
USERNAME = os.environ.get('SFTP_USERNAME', 'user')
PASSWORD = os.environ.get('SFTP_PASSWORD', 'secret_password')

try:
    with pysftp.Connection(host=HOSTNAME, username=USERNAME, password=PASSWORD, cnopts=cnopts) as sftp:
        print(f"Connection successfully established with {HOSTNAME}!")
        print(f"Current remote directory: {sftp.pwd}")

        # Example: Upload a file
        local_file = 'local_test_file.txt'
        remote_path = f'/remote/{local_file}'
        with open(local_file, 'w') as f:
            f.write('Hello, SFTP World!')

        sftp.put(local_file, remote_path)
        print(f"Uploaded {local_file} to {remote_path}")

        # Example: Download a file
        downloaded_file = 'downloaded_test_file.txt'
        sftp.get(remote_path, downloaded_file)
        print(f"Downloaded {remote_path} to {downloaded_file}")

        # Example: List remote directory
        print(f"Files in remote directory {sftp.pwd}:")
        for entry in sftp.listdir():
            print(f"- {entry}")

except pysftp.ConnectionException as e:
    print(f"SFTP connection failed: {e}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"An unexpected error occurred: {e}")
finally:
    # Clean up local test file if it was created
    if os.path.exists(local_file):
        os.remove(local_file)
    if os.path.exists(downloaded_file):
        os.remove(downloaded_file)

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