WinSCP is an SFTP client program that also recognizes SCP. The purpose of this program is to transfer files from one computer to another.

SFTP stands for SSH File Transfer Protocol (SSH stands for Secure Shell). SCP stands for Secure Copy Protocol. These protocols use different methods for securely transferring files from one computer to another. The protocol you use depends on which protocol is supported by the server that you are accessing.

 Ways to Use WinSCP

• Uploading files to your TAMU personal Web page (people.tamu.edu server).
• Transferring Maple files between the calclab1.math.tamu.edu server and your H: drive in the labs.
• Connecting to the H: drive from your home computer.

1. WinSCP may be found on any Open Access Lab computer.  To open WinSCP, select Start > Programs > Communications > WinSCP.

The Login dialog box appears* as shown in Figure 1.  (*If there are any stored sessions, the stored session window will open instead.  See the "Stored Sessions" section below).



Figure 1. Login dialog box

2. Host name: Enter the address of the server. For example, the webspace server address is people.tamu.edu, and the Calclab server is calclab1.math.tamu.edu.
3. User name: Enter your User ID for the server you are accessing. For the people.tamu.edu server, enter your NetID. For the Calclab server, type your login ID that you use to log in to Calclab.
4. Password: Enter your password for the server you are accessing.
5. Select SCP or SFTP as your communication protocol depending on the server you are accessing. (If you log in with one protocol and do not have full functionality, try logging in with the other.)
6. Click the Login button to connect to the server.

Once connected, the WinSCP navigation window appears. The window has two frames as shown in Figure 2. The left frame is the local computer (the machine that you are physically sitting in front of), and the right frame is the computer or server you have accessed.

Figure 2. WinSCP navigation window

• To change the drive: Select the drive from the drop-down box in the upper-left corner of the window. (Example: H: for home drive).
• To go to a folder: Double-click the folder that contains the files you want displayed.
• To go up one level: Double-click the folder-up icon at the top of the folder/file list.

Both frames can be navigated the same as any normal window in Windows Explorer. Files and folders can be dragged and dropped between frames with the mouse. They can be copied, pasted, deleted, and moved by right-clicking with the mouse and selecting the desired option. New directories can be created via this method as well. In addition, files and folders can both be dragged and dropped to and from the desktop to locations in either frame of the WinSCP navigation window.

Sessions, which are profiles of the different server connections one might use, can be stored in WinSCP by selecting Save Session... from the Session menu at the top of the navigation window, and entering a name to save the session. The session is stored in Stored Sessions as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Accessing stored sessions

In the above example, the webspace session was saved as people.tamu.edu. To open a stored session, select it from the list of stored sessions and select the Login button at the bottom of the dialog box. To open a new session, select the New button and log in as explained in "Connecting to a Server with WinSCP."

If you need more assistance, please feel free to ask the CIS Support Staff in any Open Access Lab, or call Help Desk Central at (979) 845-8300.