Reflection Desktop Help & HowTo > Reflection FTP Client > Connecting to an FTP or SFTP Server > Secure FTP Client Connections > Secure Shell Connections (FTP Client) > Connect Using Secure Shell (FTP Client)

Connect Using Secure Shell (FTP Client)

The following procedure describes how to use Secure Shell for authentication and encryption in the FTP Client.

To configure secure Shell connections in the FTP Client

  1. Start the FTP Client.

    This opens the Connect to FTP Site dialog box. (If the FTP Client is already running and this dialog box is not open, go to Connection > Connect.)

  2. Perform one of the following tasks:

    To

    Do This

    Create a new site

    From the Connect to FTP Site dialog box, click New.

    In the Add FTP Site dialog box, enter the name or IP address of your FTP server host, and then click Next.

    In the Login Information dialog box, select User.

    Modify an existing site

    From the Connect to FTP Site dialog box, select a site.

  3. Click Security.

  4. Click the Secure Shell tab.

  5. Select Use Reflection Secure Shell.

  6. Select one of the following options:

    SFTP

    Reflection will connect using SFTP (Secure FTP) protocol. SFTP supports fewer commands than the full FTP protocol.

    Tunnel FTP using port forwarding

    Reflection will secure the port you specify for Local port through the SSH tunnel. With this configuration you have access to the full range of FTP commands. All communications are sent through the SSH tunnel. This includes FTP commands (including user name and password) and all transmitted data (including directory listings and the contents of the files you transfer)

  7. (Optional) Specify an SSH config scheme. (If you leave SSH config scheme blank, Reflection saves any changes you make to an SSH configuration scheme with the same name as the current host.)

  8. (Optional) Click Configure to open the Reflection Secure Shell Settings dialog box. Use this dialog box to configure user authentication and additional Secure Shell settings.

  9. Perform one of the following tasks:

    If you are

    Do This

    Creating a new site

    Click OK to close the Security Properties dialog box and then click Next.

    In the FTP User Login dialog box, type your user name on the FTP server and then click Next.

    Click Finish.

    Modifying an existing site

    Click OK to close the open dialog boxes.

NOTE:

  • Host authentication enables the Secure Shell client to reliably confirm the identity of the Secure Shell server. This authentication is done using public key authentication. If the host public key has not previously been installed on the client, the first time you attempt to connect you see a message indicating that this is an unknown host. This message includes a fingerprint that identifies the host. To be sure that this is actually your host, you should contact the host system administrator who can confirm that this is the correct fingerprint. Until you know that the host is actually your host, you are at risk of a "man-in-the-middle" attack, in which another server poses as your host.

  • In most cases you will be able to connect to your host and log in with your password using the default Secure Shell configuration. Use the Reflection Secure Shell Settings dialog box if you need to configure alternate user authentication methods or to make other changes to your Secure Shell configuration.

  • The default Server Type setting for the FTP Client is Auto detect. This setting is not valid when Secure Shell is configured for SFTP. The FTP Client will automatically modify this setting from Auto detect to UNIX when you configure Secure Shell to use SFTP. To change to a different server type, use the General tab of the Site > Properties dialog box after you configure the Secure Shell settings.

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