SAS Sftp connection issue

Question

Currently I'm trying to use sas to connect to sftp server. I did some researches, it said in order to use sftp method, I need to install openSSH client software and use key authentication for connection.

So I installed puTTY and setup the private/public key. When I test the connection from psftp, I can connect to sftp server without password (use key authentication). As you can see as below, the test file 3.xlsx is on the sftp server.

But the problem is when I try to get the same file on sas, it has an error "the file does not exist".

Inside psftp, I could download this test file on my local pc, I have no idea why I cant do the same thing on sas.

Below is my sas sftp connection code:

filename output sftp '/3.xlsx'
optionsx='-P 222 -i x:\PuTTY\privatekey.ppk -pw "XXXXX" -V'
host="xxxxxx" user="xxxxxxx" path="x:\PuTTY\psftp.exe" DEBUG;

I would be so appreciate if someone can help me to fix this issue.

Answer 1

The first thing I'd troubleshoot is whether your prompt is an issue. According to the documentation:

SFTP Access Methods and SFTP Prompts The SFTP access method supports only the following prompts. Changing the prompt will disable the SFTP access method. For OpenSSH:

• sftp>
• sftp >

You have psftp>. That could be a problem.

The second thing I'd try is, also from the documentation, example 4: Using a Batch File. Their example:

 filename process sftp ' ' host="linuxhost1" user="userid" 
   batchfile="c:/stfpdir/sftpcmds.bat";
data _null_;
   infile process;
run;

That would allow you to do more troubleshooting, at minimum (such as a ls to see what's available). There's a lot of potential issues you may be running into, so being able to debug with a commands file would help resolve at least some of them.

You do have the LS and LSA options, as well, which might help at least debug a bit - maybe easier than the commands file at first.