SFTP issue and cannot find out the path

Question

Hi,

I have the SFTP issue on the client to link to Server 2022. How to fix it and find out the path below?

Answer 1

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Thank you for taking the time to test the suggestions and share the screenshot.

Based on the error shown in the screenshot, the issue occurs because: Subsystem sftp sftp-server.exe

Is not a PowerShell command. It is a configuration entry that belongs in the OpenSSH server configuration file (sshd_config). When this line is executed directly in PowerShell, Windows returns the following error because it attempts to interpret Subsystem as a command: Subsystem : The term 'Subsystem' is not recognized...

For OpenSSH on Windows Server 2022, the default SSH server configuration file is located at:

C:\ProgramData\ssh\sshd_config

Note: The ProgramData folder is hidden by default. You may need to enable Show hidden items in File Explorer to browse to this location.

To verify the SFTP configuration, please follow these steps:

1. Open Notepad or another text editor as Administrator.
2. Open the file: C:\ProgramData\ssh\sshd_config
3. Locate the SFTP subsystem entry. By default, it should appear similar to: Subsystem sftp sftp-server.exe
4. Validate the OpenSSH configuration: sshd -t
5. If no errors are reported, restart the OpenSSH service: Restart-Service sshd

If sftp-server.exe cannot be found, please verify that the OpenSSH Server feature is installed:

Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object Name -like 'OpenSSH.Server*'

The default OpenSSH installation location is: C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\

You can confirm that the SFTP executable exists by running: Get-ChildItem C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\sftp-server.exe

For additional troubleshooting, I recommend reviewing Event Viewer for any OpenSSH-related errors and validating the configuration after making any changes. Also, enabling OpenSSH logging can also help identify the root cause of SFTP connection failures.

For more information, please visit: OpenSSH Server Configuration for Windows | Microsoft Learn

Troubleshoot Common SFTP Issues - Windows Server | Microsoft Learn

Get started with OpenSSH Server for Windows | Microsoft Learn

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Answer 2

For OpenSSH SFTP on Windows Server 2022, the main configuration file path is:

%ProgramData%\ssh\sshd_config

ProgramData is a hidden folder, so the full default path is:

C:\ProgramData\ssh\sshd_config

To troubleshoot the SFTP issue:

1. Open C:\ProgramData\ssh\sshd_config with an administrator account.
2. Validate the configuration by running:

      sshd -t
   

3. Check that the file has no trailing spaces and that this entry is present:

      Subsystem sftp sftp-server.exe
   

4. If SFTP users are expected to be restricted to a folder, verify that ChrootDirectory points to a local directory, not a UNC path.
5. Check NTFS permissions on the chroot directory and user-writable folders. Use icacls from an elevated Command Prompt to verify and fix ACLs.
6. Review Event Viewer for related OpenSSH errors.
7. After any change, restart the OpenSSH Server service.

If logs are needed, SFTP log data is stored in:

%ProgramData%\ssh\logs

To enable SFTP logging in sshd_config, set:

SyslogFacility LOCAL0
LogLevel DEBUG3
Subsystem sftp sftp-server.exe -f LOCAL0 -l DEBUG3

Then restart the service with:

NET STOP "OpenSSH SSH Server" && NET START "OpenSSH SSH Server"

If the service does not start or SFTP connections hang even after correcting the configuration and permissions, uninstall and reinstall OpenSSH Server.

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• Troubleshoot common SFTP issues when using OpenSSH
• Troubleshoot common SFTP issues when using OpenSSH