How do I connect to a site with WinSCP?

FTP
SSH
Austin Beresford
Published: 24 August 2021
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FTP uploads on our system have a maximum size of 5GB.  If you need to upload files larger than this, you'd need to upload these via SSH.

One such tool you can use is WinSCP. With WinSCP, you can connect to your site files via SCP to upload/download, much as you would a standard FTP client.

How to connect via SSH using WinSCP

Firstly, you'll need to create a public/private key-pair as you would when connecting via SSH normally. If you're unfamiliar with this, our SSH guide covers this in more detail. You'll need to connect to your hosting package using this method before continuing, so make sure to set this up and then try connecting via PuTTY to confirm it's up and running before moving on to the next step.

  • Log in to My20i, head to Manage Hosting and select the package that you want SSH access for. Then select SSH Access from under the Security section.
  • As in the previous guide, input the Public Key that was generated from PuTTYgen into the Public Key box, which will generate a handle for it. Then, select Add Public Key on the page.
  • Once done, save the private key locally under any name you want: you'll need this later.
  • Open WinSCP. You'll be prompted with a 'Login' form upon loading. You'll want to select 'SCP' under 'File protocol:' at the top.

WInSCP login to connect to website

  • Then enter the following details:
    • Host name: The hostname will depend on what data centre your package is in. For UK packages, this should be ssh.gb.stackcp.com. For packages in the US, please use ssh.us.stackcp.com.
    • User name: The domain name of the package
    • Port: 22
  • Leave the password area of the form blank for now and hit 'Advanced' beneath it. You'll be greeted with an Advanced Site Settings box:

WinSCP Advanced Site Settings

  • Navigate to SSH > Authentication and hit the '...' box under 'Private key file'. You can select your Private Key you saved earlier from here.
  • Once that's added, hit OK and then Login at the bottom. You'll get a prompt for the password you set with the key pair earlier: enter it here.
  • You'll then be fully connected and can use WinSCP to upload/download files as you would a standard FTP client.