When you want to upload or download files to your VPS, there are several ways to do it.

Table of Contents

SSHFS (only for Linux local computers): mount a remote folder in your computer

Type these commands in your Linux computer (sshfs is usually installed with ssh but you can install it easily with a package manager like apt or pacman):

sshfs <username>@<ip>:<remote path> <mount point> -o IdentityFile=<private key file full path>

umount <mount point> #for unmount

Use full paths when referring to a folder or to the private key file.

“Mount point” is an empty local folder path where you want to mount the remote folder.

SFTP (Filezilla)

  1. Click on the top-left icon (“Site Manager”). Filezilla main window
  2. Click on “New site” and type a name for the connection. Filezilla Site Manager
  3. In “Protocol” select “SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol”. Filezilla Site Manager
  4. Type the public IP or DNS on “Host”.
  5. Select “Key File” in “Logon Type”. (If you use a password to connect to the server, type the username and password and skip steps 6 and 7). Filezilla Site Manager
  6. Type the username.
  7. Click “Browse” to select the private key file. In the pop-up window, select your private key format (PEM or PPK) at the bottom-right corner and then the private key file. Filezilla Site Manager Filezilla select private key window
  8. Finally, click “Connect”.

SFTP (command-line)

You can use the sftp command to open a secure FTP connection.

sftp <username>@<server>
# or
sftp -i <private key path> <username>@<server>

Then, it will show a prompt. These are some commands you can use:

  • ls [directory]: list the content of a remote directory.
  • cd <directory>: change the remote working directory.
  • mkdir <directory>: create a remote directory.
  • put <localfile> [remotefile]: transfer a file to the remote machine. Add -R to recursive transfer.
  • get <remotefile> [localfile]: transfer a file from a remote machine. Add -R to recursive transfer.
  • quit: close the connection and exit.

SCP

SCP command line tool is usually installed with ssh in Linux distros.

Type these commands on your local device:

  1. Transfer files from server to local computer: 
    scp -i <privatekey> <remote-user>@<remote-ip>:<remote-file> </local/path/>
    • Add -r to copy recursively.
    • -P <port> to use a port different than 22.
  2. Transfer files to server: 
    scp <local-file> -i <privatekey> <remote-user>@<remote-ip>:<remote-path>

rsync

With rsync you can do incremental file transfer between two devices within a local network or between different networks. More info on my post Backup methods (IV): rsync.

Web Server (only for download)

  1. Type this in your VPS (in your working directory): 
    sudo python3 -m http.server 80
# you do not need "sudo" if port >=1024
  2. Go to http//<SERVER-PUBLIC-IP>

If you have any suggestion, feel free to contact me via social media or email.