What is SFTP, and how do I use it?

SFTP, or secure FTP, is a program that uses SSH to transfer files. Unlikestandard FTP, it encrypts both commands and data, preventing passwords andsensitive information from being transmitted in the clear over the network.It is functionally similar to FTP, but because it uses a differentprotocol, you can't use a standard FTP client to talk to an SFTP server,nor can you connect to an FTP server with a client that supports only SFTP.There are two ways you can use SFTP: graphical SFTP clients and commandline SFTP.
Some standard commands for command line SFTP include:
cd Change the directory on the remote computer
chmod Change the permissions of files on the remote computer
chown Change the owner of files on the remote computer
dir (or ls) List the files in the current directory on the remote computer
exit (or quit) Close the connection to the remote computer and exit SFTP
get Copy a file from the remote computer to the local computer
help (or ?) Get help on the use of SFTP commands
lcd Change the directory on the local computer
lls See a list of the files in the current directory on the local computer
lmkdir Create a directory on the local computer
ln (or symlink) Create a symbolic link for a file on the remote computer
lpwd Show the current directory (present working directory) on the localcomputer
lumask Change the local umask value
mkdir Create a directory on the remote computer
put Copy a file from the local computer to the remote computer
pwd Show the current directory (present working directory) on the remotecomputer
rename Rename a file on the remote host
rm Delete files from the remote computer
rmdir Remove a directory on the remote host (the directory usually has tobe empty)