About SFTP prerequisites

  • Updated on Nov 13, 2025
  • Published on Jun 26, 2025
Prev Next

To start using SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) as a Supermetrics destination, some requirements need to be met. These prerequisites ensure that a working connection can be set up to successfully transfer data to your SFTP server.

Prerequisites

SFTP server

You need an SFTP server in place before you can create an SFTP destination for Supermetrics. Learn more about how to set up a server with your operating system:

Note that if your SFTP server runs into quota issues, it could cause your Supermetrics to fail. Make sure it’s set up correctly to avoid these issues.

Permissions

You can connect to your SFTP server using a legacy password or the recommended key-pair method.

Method 1: Username and password (Deprecated)

You can connect using a standard username and password, though this method is less secure and no longer recommended.

Method 2: Key pair (Recommended)

This is the most secure method, authenticating with a private SSH key instead of a password.

Prerequisites for key pair:

  1. Generate a key pair: You must generate an SSH key pair (a public key and a private key) on your own machine.

  2. Add public key to server: You must add your public key to the authorized keys file for the user on your SFTP server and ensure the server is configured to allow public key authentication. The location of this file depends on your server's operating system and software:

    • Linux example: On most OpenSSH servers, the file is typically ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.

    • Windows example: If you're using OpenSSH on Windows, the file might be at C:\Users\<username>\.ssh\authorized_keys. Other SFTP server software (like FileZilla Server) will have a different method for adding keys in its own user management interface.

    • Please consult your specific server's documentation for the correct procedure.

  3. Provide private key: In the Supermetrics UI, you will need to provide:

    • Username: The user you’re connecting as.

    • Private key: The full text of your private key (such as the content of your id_rsa file).

      Only the following key formats are supported:

      • Common

      • MontgomeryPrivate

      • MontgomeryPublic

      • OpenSSH

      • PKCS1

      • PKCS8

      • PuTTY

      • XML

      • libsodium

    • Private key passphrase (optional): If you set a passphrase when creating your key, you must provide it here.

User Permissions

Regardless of which authentication method you use, the user must have permissions to:

  • Write files to the SFTP destination

  • Delete files from the SFTP destination

  • Create and navigate to sub-folders

If the user doesn’t have permission to create and navigate sub-folders, they need to leave the “Upload Path” field empty when creating the destination.

When you click Test, our connection test writes a file to your SFTP destination and tries to delete it afterward. This makes sure Supermetrics can transfer data to the right place.

If the user doesn’t have permission to delete files, the connection test will leave empty files in your SFTP server.

IP allowlisting

You need to allowlist select IP addresses if your organization only allows access from selected networks. Add these Supermetrics IP addresses to your allowlist.

More resources