FTPMonitor / Guides / SFTP key authentication required

SFTP key authentication required

Why SFTP servers require SSH key authentication and how to configure keys correctly.

Diagnose this automatically

Verify whether authentication is the actual failure point.

terminal

npx ftpmonitor check --protocol sftp --host sftp.example.com --port 22 --username user --password pass

Shareable output

terminal

npx ftpmonitor check --protocol sftp --host sftp.example.com --port 22 --username user --password pass --format slack --copy

Many SFTP servers require SSH key authentication instead of passwords.

Common causes

SFTP permission denied — Why SFTP returns permission denied errors and how to fix file or directory permissions.
SFTP host key verification failed — Why SSH host key verification fails and how to resolve known_hosts conflicts.
SFTP authentication failed — Why SFTP authentication fails and how to fix password or SSH key issues.
SFTP subsystem request failed — Why SFTP subsystem requests fail and how to configure SSH servers correctly.
Authentication failed — Why FTP/SFTP authentication fails and how to correct credential, key, and account policy issues.
SFTP directory listing failed — Why SFTP connects but cannot list directories, and how to fix path, permissions, and chroot issues.