How to Connect to SFTP and FTP

Use the net.sftp.init{} command to initialize the connection. You are only required to use the following five parameters:

Your net.sftp.init{} code will look something like this:

local Conn = net.sftp.init{
  server=Destination_HostName,
  username=Destination_Login,
  password=Destination_Password,
  port=Destination_Port,
  timeout = 60,
  }

For optimal security, use TLS/SSL enabled connections. See Enable TLS/SSL with the Network Client APIs.

When working with files Here is a sample script showing how you can use the net api to List, Get and Put a file via SFTP:

function main(Data)
  
  -- (1) Initialize Connection
    local Conn = net.sftp.init{
    server=Destination_HostName,
    username=Destination_Login,
    password=Destination_Password,
    port=Destination_Port,
    timeout = 60,
  }

  -- (2) List files from SFTP Server
  local list = Conn:list{remote_path="/"}

  -- (3) Get a file from the SFTP server
  local get = Conn:get{remote_path='afile.txt'}

  -- (4) Put a file on the SFTP Server
  local put = Conn:put{remote_path='sample.txt', data=Data}

end

Use io.read() to read the files received or io.write() to process accordingly. Always close file handles to reduce the overhead of unclosed connections. See File Operations and the FIL Library.

Once processing is complete you can will typically want to move or delete the the files to avoid reprocessing.

For this, the net API supports renaming and removing files – net.*.rename(),  net.*.delete().