Scripting SFTP [non-interactive]

[imonkey]

Hi All,
I'm trying to automate a file upload via sftp. My though was to write a simple shell script and run that script via launchd. Looking at the man page for sftp it appears that the sftp command only works in interactive mode. which would confirm why my script is not working:

#!/bin/bash
# Uploads a specified file to a remote server via sftp

# Sets the remote Server
SERVER="user@sftp.server.com.au"

# Sets the local file to upload
FILE="/path/to/file"

# Upload the file to the server
SFTP $SERVER
put $FILE
quit

exit 0

When I run it is stops at the prompt sftp> then when I manually quit it attempts the next two lines not knowing the put and quit commands.

The sftp server I'm trying to connect to is a Windows box running WinSSHD http://www.bitvise.com/winsshd. I tried doing a scp copy via ssh but the terminal session doesn't start—I'm presuming an incompatibility with the window command line

I've setup private/public keys on the server and user account so no password is required.

Any suggestions on automating a file copy via ssh or sftp to a windows server? I'm thinking of just using Panic's Transmit disk feature and doing a copy that way.


Thanks in advance.

[hayne]

Perhaps using the 'expect' command will help.
('expect' is designed for scripting interactive command-line programs)
Read 'man expect'

[SirDice]

Why don't you use scp?

#!/bin/bash
# Uploads a specified file to a remote server via sftp

# Sets the remote Server
SERVER="user@sftp.server.com.au"

# Sets the local file to upload
FILE="/path/to/file"

# Upload the file to the server
scp $FILE $SERVER

exit 0

Edit: scratch that, it doesn't seem to work for you.

Another option is to use the batch mode of sftp:

(echo put $FILE; echo quit) | sftp -b - $SERVER

exit 0

[imonkey]

That worked a treat, Thanks SirDice