A very simple guide to automatic upload files using WinSCP

 

WinSCP is a very powerful SFTP/FTP client because it supports script.  It is very useful for using schedule job to upload/download files automatically.  It also have builtin file syncronization feature.  Below is a very minimistic example to automate file upload.

Objective

1. You want to automatic upload all files under C:\upload

Preparation

1. Download and install WinSCP.  Assume you will install the program to C:\Program Files\WinSCP.
2. Test the connectivity of WinSCP with the target server.
3. Prepare your own batch job to manage files under c:\upload (i.e. add new files and/or remove old files)
4. Create a WinSCP script file and save as c:\batch\ftpscript.txt
   open sftp://<username>:<password>@<IP_or_hostname>
   option batch abort
   option confirm off
   lcd c:\upload
   cd /
   put *.*
   exit
   
   Description:
   1. open: Connect to the target server using URL.  In this example, sftp:// protocol is used.  You can use ftp:// instead.
   2. option batch abort and option confirm off are required for smooth batch operation without question asked.
   3. lcd: change local directory.  To change remote directory, use cd command
   4. put *.* will upload all files (including sub-directory).  WinSCP will handle binary or text mode automatically.  There is no need to manually change transfer mode.
   
5. Create a Windows schedule (or any scheduler you want) to run the below command:
   "c:\Program Files\WinSCP\winscp.com" /script=c:\batch\ftpscript.txt /log=c:\batch\ftplog.txt
6. That’s all!