WinSCP

Last updated
WinSCP
Developer(s) Martin Přikryl
Initial release2000;24 years ago (2000)
Stable release
6.3.3 [1]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 16 April 2024
Repository github.com/winscp/winscp
Written in C++
Operating system Microsoft Windows
Size 10 MB
Available in45 languages [2]
Type File Manager
License winscp.net/eng/docs/license
Website winscp.net

WinSCP (Windows Secure Copy) [3] is a file manager, SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), WebDAV, Amazon S3, and secure copy protocol (SCP) client for Microsoft Windows. The WinSCP project has released its source code on GitHub under an open source license, while the program itself is distributed as proprietary freeware. [4]

Contents

Program

Its main function is secure file transfer between a local computer and a remote server. [5] Beyond this, WinSCP offers basic file manager and file synchronization functionality. For secure transfers, it uses the Secure Shell protocol (SSH) and supports the SCP protocol in addition to SFTP. [6]

Development of WinSCP started around March 2000 and continues. Originally it was hosted by the University of Economics in Prague, where its author worked at the time. Since July 16, 2003, the program and its source code is licensed under the GNU GPL. It is hosted on SourceForge and GitHub. [7]

WinSCP is based on the implementation of the SSH protocol from PuTTY and FTP protocol from FileZilla. [8] It is also available as a plugin for Altap Salamander file manager, [9] and there exists a third-party plugin for the FAR file manager. [10]

Features

An internal editor window WinSCP-6.1-Editor.png
An internal editor window

Apart from the standard package, three portable versions are also available: A generic package [13] and two customized versions for LiberKey and PortableApps.com. The portable version runs on Wine [14] on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, and BSD. [15]

Some older versions of the WinSCP installer included OpenCandy advertising module or bundled Google Chrome. Since version 5.5.5 (August 2014) the installer does not contain any advertisement.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. Its most notable applications are remote login and command-line execution.

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and data connections between the client and the server. FTP users may authenticate themselves with a plain-text sign-in protocol, normally in the form of a username and password, but can connect anonymously if the server is configured to allow it. For secure transmission that protects the username and password, and encrypts the content, FTP is often secured with SSL/TLS (FTPS) or replaced with SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).

WebDAV is a set of extensions to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which allows user agents to collaboratively author contents directly in an HTTP web server by providing facilities for concurrency control and namespace operations, thus allowing Web to be viewed as a writeable, collaborative medium and not just a read-only medium. WebDAV is defined in RFC 4918 by a working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

In computing, the SSH File Transfer Protocol is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management over any reliable data stream. It was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as an extension of the Secure Shell protocol (SSH) version 2.0 to provide secure file transfer capabilities, and is seen as a replacement of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) due to superior security. The IETF Internet Draft states that, even though this protocol is described in the context of the SSH-2 protocol, it could be used in a number of different applications, such as secure file transfer over Transport Layer Security (TLS) and transfer of management information in VPN applications.

Secure copy protocol (SCP) is a means of securely transferring computer files between a local host and a remote host or between two remote hosts. It is based on the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. "SCP" commonly refers to both the Secure Copy Protocol and the program itself.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Far Manager</span> File and archive manager for Microsoft Windows

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CrushFTP is a proprietary multi-protocol, multi-platform file transfer server originally developed in 1999. CrushFTP is shareware with a tiered pricing model. It is targeted at home users on up to enterprise users.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">OpenSSH</span> Set of computer programs providing encrypted communication sessions

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Bitvise is a proprietary secure remote access software developed for Windows and available as a client and server. The software is based on the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, which provides a secure channel over an insecure network in a client-server architecture.

References

  1. ↑ "6.3.3". 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  2. ↑ "WinSCP Translations". winscp.net. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  3. ↑ "Project History :: WinSCP". winscp.net. February 16, 2023.
  4. ↑ "License :: WinSCP". winscp.net. June 18, 2024.
  5. ↑ Bisch, Patrick (2011-12-21). "How to Automatically Backup Your Web Server Files With WinSCP over FTP". HowToGeek. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  6. ↑ "Introducing WinSCP". winscp.net. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Project History". winscp.net. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "WinSCP Contributions". winscp.net. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "WinSCP Plugin to Altap Salamander File Manager". winscp.net. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "NetBox: SFTP/FTP/FTP(S)/SCP/WebDAV client for Far Manager". github.com. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "WinSCP 5.7 - What's New?" . Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Editing/Opening Files". winscp.net. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "Portable Use". winscp.net. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "WinSCP entry on Wine AppDB". winehq.org. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "What is Wine?". winehq.org. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
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