SFTP

ExpanDrive is the gold standard for mapping SFTP as a network drive on Mac and Windows. It makes the contents of any SSH server available through Finder, Explorer and other apps on your system.

Connection Parameters

Server

The address of the server you are connecting to. You can use a domain name or an IP address to connect.

Username

This is the username assigned for your access to the SFTP server.

Authentication

ExpanDrive allows multiple methods for authenticating an SFTP connection: password authentication, SSH key and an external SSH agent, such as Pageant (Windows) or ssh-agent (Mac or Linux).

Password Authentication

Providing a username and password is the default authentication option for an SFTP connection.

Your password is saved securely in the macOS Keychain or the Windows credentials vault. If you have multi-factor authentication set up, ExpanDrive will prompt you for those inputs during connection.

SSH Key Authentication

You can mount a drive without a password using a public/private key pair. The public portion must be installed on the remote server; the method for doing this may vary depending on your provider.

When you select SSH Key authentication, you'll need to specify the path to the private key file.

ExpanDrive only supports OpenSSH format keys. If you have a PuTTY “.ppk” file, you must either convert that key to OpenSSH format or instead use ssh agent authentication.

ExpanDrive does not generate SSH keys. You can use a utility such as PuTTYgen/PuTTY Key Generator for Windows or ssh-keygen on Mac or Linux to create a key pair.

SSH Agent Authentication

SSH agents manage ssh key files for you, removing the need to enter a lengthy passphrase each time you want to connect to an SSH server. This is particularly helpful if you use multiple private/public key pairs to connect to different resources.

ExpanDrive uses the Pageant SSH authentication agent (a PuTTY utility) on Windows or the built-in ssh-agent on Mac. You must add your keys to the SSH agent in order to connect with ExpanDrive.

When you select SSH Agent authentication, ExpanDrive will automatically communicate with your SSH agent (Pageant on Windows, ssh-agent on Linux or Mac) to establish the SFTP connection.

Port

The number of the port for connecting to SFTP. If you do not specify a port, ExpanDrive will connect on port 22. You can enter a different value if the server requires it. Some organizations are required to use non-default ports for compliance or security policy reasons.

Remote path

The remote path allows you to enter a path on the remote server which limits which directory will be the top-most directory visible through this connection. Specify the absolute path to the directory, such as /home/user/inbox .

One reason to specify this path is to create a connection to a single specific directory, which can simplify operations on your computer, allowing you to interact directly with the mount folder rather than repeatedly navigating through subfolders.

This setting is also useful if your SFTP provider has granted you access to a deeply nested path but does not automatically change your session to that folder.

Nickname

The nickname serves to identify the connection. This name will show up as the volume label on the mounted drive.