6.1 Starting PSFTP
The usual way to start PSFTP is from a command prompt, much like PSCP. To do this, it will need either to be on your PATH or in your current directory. To add the directory containing PSFTP to your PATH environment variable, type into the console window:
set PATH=C:\path\to\putty\directory;%PATH%
Unlike PSCP, however, PSFTP has no complex command-line syntax; you just specify a host name and perhaps a user name:
psftp server.example.com
or perhaps
psftp [email protected]
Alternatively, if you just type psftp on its own (or double-click the PSFTP icon in the Windows GUI), you will see the PSFTP prompt, and a message telling you PSFTP has not connected to any server:
C:\>psftp
psftp: no hostname specified; use "open host.name" to connect
psftp>
At this point you can type open server.example.com or open [email protected] to start a session.
PSFTP accepts all the general command line options supported by the PuTTY tools, except the ones which make no sense in a file transfer utility. See section 3.8.3 for a description of these options. (The ones not supported by PSFTP are clearly marked.)
PSFTP also supports some of its own options. The following sections describe PSFTP's specific command-line options.