Abdussamad.com

The question of a graphical SFTP client for Linux came up after I switched to using OpenSUSE Linux as my desktop operating system. On Windows you have the excellent WinSCP but what about Linux ? The answer is very strange.

Simply put there is no specialist GUI SFTP client for Linux! Instead the job is done by the file manager of your Desktop Environment. That means Dolphin under KDE and Nautilus under GNOME.

Dolphin split Window with SFTP

Since I am a KDE kind of guy I will write about how to use Dolphin to access your server via SFTP:

• First make sure you can see the location bar by pressing CTRL +L
• Enter the username and address of your SFTP server in this format:

  sftp://user@example.com:22

  Replace 22 with the correct port number.

• Dolphin will now attempt a connection. If you have setup password-less public key authentication you will be logged in immediately. Otherwise Dolphin will ask for your password.

Now you can manage the files on your server as you would manage local files. You can even split the Dolphin window and drag and drop files to/from the server.

One thing to note is that when deleting files from the remote server Dolphin might complain about the lack of a trash folder. So you have to press Shift+Delete to delete files permanently.