# SFTP Export
{% hint style="danger" %}
This page is about sending files to an SFTP after a run completes. It is not about using SFTP as a storage backend for staging and runs to operate on. You can both use the SFTP backend and export files to an SFTP server at the same time.
{% endhint %}
Sending your named-results files by SFTP easy. This feature is similar to the `transfer-mode` feature. The difference is that `transfer-mode` only copies files on the local disk.
To start sending results by SFTP you simply:
* Make a trivial change to your `config/config.ini`
* Add metadata to the csvpath's external comments
The process is the same as for the other integrations. You will, of course, also need to have an SFTP account.
{% hint style="success" %}
Sending results by SFTP as this page describes is not the same as using the SFTP backend. You have the option to [configure your archive, named-files, or named-paths storage areas to be in an SFTP server](/topics/higher-level-topics/data-validation-files-and-storage/storage-backends.md). Doing that applies to all work in your CsvPath Framework project; whereas, sending results files the way this page describes is something you set up for an individual csvpath.
{% endhint %}
Here is the `config.ini` change:
If your project is new and you let `CsvPaths` generate it for you you just need to uncomment the `sftp.results` key and add `sftp` to the `groups` key. If you don't have the `sftp.results` key already, just paste in:
```ini
sftp.results = from csvpath.managers.integrations.sftp.sftp_sender import SftpSender
```
If you want a `CsvPaths` instance to generate a new config, move the old one to a temp file and just do either of the following. Bear in mind that this feature is at CsvPath point release `0.0.505` or greater.
```
poetry run cli
```
Or if you're not a fan of Poetry, make a trivial Python file that has these two lines and run it:
```python
from csvpath.cli import Cli
Cli().loop()
```
Next the metadata directives:
* sftp-server
* sftp-port
* sftp-user
* sftp-password
* sftp-target-path
* sftp-files
* sftp-original-data
You can use these in external comments. External comments are ones that are above or below your csvpath, but not within the csvpath. Comments are delimited with the `~`. Obviously some of these values are required. Server, port, user, password, and sftp-files are mandatory.
Notice the ALL CAPS env references and var|variable dynamic substitutions.
| Setting | Description | Example |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `sftp-server` | The network name or IP of the SFTP server. | `sftp-server: localhost` |
| `sftp-port` | The port. | `sftp-port: 22` |
| `sftp-user` | This is the username of the regular SFTP account, not an admin account. | `sftp-user: frog` |
| `sftp-password` | The account password. If the value is ALL CAPS it is swapped for the value of any env var that matches. | `sftp-password: SFTP_USER_PASSD` |
| `sftp-target-path` | The directory within the account where the files will land | |
| `sftp-files` |
A set of file names in the form X > Y, Z > A, B > C.
This pattern means that X will be copied to a file named Y, Z to a file named A, and so forth.
| `sftp-files: data.csv > results.csv, errors.json > errors.json` |
| `sftp-original-data` | If `yes`, the original data file is sent using the same original filename. The original data file is taken from the first csvpath in the named-paths group. That way if we are in `source-mode: preceding`, or doing one of the by\_lines methods, we get the correct data. | `sftp-original-data: yes` |
For all these settings you have two options for non-static values:
* `ALL CAPS` are swapped for env vars, if there is a match
* Any value that is in the form `var|variablename` is swapped for any matching run variable named `variablename`. If none matches `variablename` becomes the value.
---
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