SFTP
To ensure your data remains safe and encrypted, Kinsta only supports SFTP connections.
SFTP clients
If you don’t already have an SFTP client installed on your computer, we recommend one of the following:
- Cyberduck (Free — macOS or Windows)
- WinSCP (Free — Windows)
- FileZilla (Free — macOS, Windows, or Linux)
- Transmit (Premium — macOS)
SFTP settings
You’ll need to configure your SFTP client with the following settings, which can be found in MyKinsta under WordPress Sites > sitename > Info:
- Connection type: SFTP (Kinsta only supports SFTP connections)
- Address/URL/Hostname: Found in MyKinsta under WordPress Sites > sitename > Info
- Username: Found in MyKinsta under WordPress Sites > sitename > Info
- Password: Found in MyKinsta under WordPress Sites > sitename > Info
- Port: Varies from site to site, found in MyKinsta under WordPress Sites > sitename > Info
You can also use an SSH key in addition to your username and password.
Some SFTP clients may default to FTP as the connection type, so be sure SFTP is selected as the connection type. If you don’t, you might see an error similar to:
Cannot establish FTP connection to an SFTP server. Please select proper protocol.
Download SFTP settings
Rather than manually inputting your SFTP settings, you can download a configuration file that contains all of the settings required for the SFTP connection for FileZilla, Cyberduck, or Terminus. In MyKinsta, under WordPress Sites > sitename > Info > SFTP/SSH, click the download icon under FTP client config files.
This downloads a zip file that contains the following files:
- .xml – This can be used to import the SFTP settings into FileZilla. For support with the import, refer to FileZilla’s documentation.
- .duck – This can be used with Cyberduck. If you open the file, it starts the Cyberduck application and creates the connection. If you need further support with this, refer to Cyberduck’s documentation.
- .csv – This can be used to import the SFTP settings into Terminus. For support with the import, refer to Terminus support.
Change the SFTP/SSH password
If you want to update the SFTP/SSH password for the current environment, hover over the password and click Generate new SFTP password.
To confirm the password change, click Generate new password.
Copy and paste the new password into your SFTP client as needed.
Set a password expiration
If you want the STFP/SSH password to expire and regenerate at regular intervals automatically for the current environment, click the edit icon under Password expiration.
Choose how often you want the password to expire and regenerate, and click Save changes.
Authentication methods
To change the SFTP/SSH authentication methods to enable or disable access with a username and password for the current environment, click the edit icon under Authentication methods.
Select Password to enable or disable SFTP/SSH access with a username and password, and click Save changes. You cannot disable access using an SSH key; however, you can disable all SFTP/SSH access.
IP allowlist
To specify a list of IP addresses that are allowed to access your environment via STFP/SSH, click the edit icon under IP allowlist.
Enter the IP addresses you want to allow access via SFTP/SSH and click Add. You can specify multiple addresses separated by a comma, e.g., 1.1.1.1, 2.2.2.2. You can also specify a range of IP addresses using a slash, e.g., 1.1.1.1/32.
Once you have entered all of the required IP addresses, click Update IP allowlist.
Disable/enable SFTP/SSH access
If you want to disable SFTP/SSH access so no users can connect via STFP/SSH, on your site’s Info tab, click Disable.
To confirm the changes, click Disable SFTP/SSH access.
When SFTP/SSH access is disabled, the connection details are no longer shown.
If you want to enable access and show the connection details, click Enable > Enable SFTP/SSH access.
Client examples
Here are a few examples of settings in FTP clients.
Cyberduck
WinSCP
FileZilla
Transmit
More information
SFTP is a secure way to connect to your website files and the only supported file transfer protocol at Kinsta. For more details about how SFTP is more secure, be sure to check out the difference between FTP and SFTP.