Connect to Amazon EC2 file directory using Filezil

Question

I have created an AWS EC2 Instance and I want to be able to upload files to the server directory using FileZilla in the simplest and most straightforward fashion possible.

Answer 1

FileZilla did not work for me, I kept getting this error:

Disconnected: No supported authentication methods available (server sent: publickey)

What did work was the sftp command.

Connect with the EC2 Instance with

sftp -i "path/to/key.pem" [e-mail]

Downloading files / dirs

To download path/to/source/file.txt and path/to/source/dir:

lcd ~/Desktop
cd path/to/source
get file.txt
get -r dir

Uploading files / dirs

To upload localpath/to/source/file.txt and ~/localpath/to/source/dir to remotepath/to/dest:

lcd localpath/to/source
cd remotepath/to/dest
put file.txt
put -r dir

Answer 2

Old question but what I've found is that, all you need is to add the ppk file. Settings -> Connections -> SFTP -> Add keyfile User name and the host is same as what you would provide when using putty which is mentioned in http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-connect-to-instance-linux.html Might help someone.

Answer 3

Just one minor note to the well explained accepted answer of Yasitha Chinthaka:

Note: FileZilla automatically figures out which key to use. You do not need to specify the key after importing it as described above.

In my case I already had other 5 ppks from other instances that I was using in the past (with the ppk of the new instance being at the bottom of that list). I added the new ppk of my new instance, and it wouldn't let me connect to it. The error message: too many tries / attempts.

After I deleted the unused ppks, I was finally able to login to the instance.

So no, Filezilla is not that smart ;-)

Answer 4

You can use any FTP client. I use winscp and it works just fine. In all these clients; you can specify the ssh secure key.

Answer 5

This is very simple if you used your pem file ( I am using MacOS / windows user can follow the same steps.)

1. Just download your FileZilla (I'm using MacOS - and downloaded free version, that's good enough)

2. Open Site Manager in FileZilla (⌘S) -> New Site

3. Put your host name in the Host field.

Example: eca-**-**-**-111.ap-southwest-9.compute.amazonaws.com

• Select Protocol as SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol

• Select Logon type as Key File

• Put your user name in the User field : for me it's ubuntu (find your ssh user)

Note:

OS vs Username

Amazon - ec2-user

Centos - centos

Debian - admin or root

Fedora - ec2-user

RHEL - ec2-user or root

SUSE - ec2-user or root

Ubuntu - ubuntu or root

4. For Key file field, browse your pem file: and click Connect

5. That's all :) have fun!

Note:

(Remember to allow SSH connection to your IP address from EC2) If not you will get connecting error message!

Note: Allowing your IP to connect your aws instance via SFTP

EC2 -> SecurityGroups -> SSH -> Inbound rules -> Edit -> Add Rule ( SSH|TCP|22|My IP(it's get ip automatically | name for rule) -> Save

Answer 6

In my case, Filezilla sends the AWS ppk file to every other FTP server I try to securely connect to.

That's crazy. There's a workaround as written below but it's ugly.

It does not behave well as @Lucio M pointed out.

From this discussion: https://forum.filezilla-project.org/viewtopic.php?t=30605

n0lqu:

Agreed. However, given I can't control the operation of the server, is there any way to specify within FileZilla that a site should authenticate with a password rather than key, or vice-versa? Or tell it to try password first, then key only if password fails? It appears to me it's trying key first, and then not getting a chance to try password.

botg(Filezilla admin) replied:

There's no such option.

n0lqu:

Could such an option be added, or are there any good workarounds anyone can recommend? Right now, the only workaround I know is to delete the key from general preferences, add it back only when connecting to the specific site that requires it, then deleting it again when done so it doesn't mess up other sites.

botg:

Right now you could have two FileZilla instances with separate config dirs (e. g. one installed and one portable).

timboskratch:

I just had this same issue today and managed to resolve it by changing the "logon type" of the connection using a password in the site manager. Instead of "Normal" I could select either "Interactive" or "Ask for Password" (not really sure what the difference is) and then when I tried to connect to the site again it gave me a prompt to enter my password and then connected successfully. It's not ideal as it means you have to remember and re-type you password every time you connect, but better than having to install 2 instances of FileZilla. I totally agree that it would be very useful in the Site Manager to have full options of how you would like FileZilla to connect to each site which is set up (whether to use a password, key, etc.) Hope this is helpful! Tim

Also see: https://forum.filezilla-project.org/viewtopic.php?t=34676

So, it seems:

For multiple FTP sites with keys / passwords, use multiple Filezilla installs, OR, use the same ppk key for all servers.

I wish there was a way to tell FileZilla which ppk is for which site in Site Manger