@digitalnodecom/node-red-contrib-best-sftp

A reliable SFTP client node for Node-RED with keyboard-interactive authentication support.

Features

• Multiple authentication methods: Password, keyboard-interactive, and SSH private key
• 9 SFTP operations: list, get, put, delete, mkdir, rmdir, rename, exists, stat
• Keyboard-interactive auth: Works with servers that require interactive authentication
• Dynamic configuration: Override settings via message properties
• Status indicators: Visual feedback for connection and operation states
• Secure credential storage: Passwords and keys encrypted by Node-RED

Installation

Via Node-RED Palette Manager

1. Open Node-RED
2. Go to Menu → Manage Palette → Install
3. Search for @digitalnodecom/node-red-contrib-best-sftp
4. Click Install

Via npm

cd ~/.node-red
npm install @digitalnodecom/node-red-contrib-best-sftp

Then restart Node-RED.

Nodes

sftp-config

Configuration node that stores SFTP server connection settings.

| Property | Type | Description | |----------|------|-------------| | Host | string | SFTP server hostname or IP | | Port | number | SFTP port (default: 22) | | Username | string | Authentication username | | Password | string | Authentication password | | Keyboard Auth | boolean | Enable keyboard-interactive authentication | | Private Key | string | SSH private key (optional) | | Passphrase | string | Private key passphrase (optional) |

sftp-best

Main SFTP operations node.

| Property | Type | Description | |----------|------|-------------| | Server | sftp-config | Reference to server configuration | | Operation | string | SFTP operation to perform | | Remote Path | string | Path on the remote server | | Local Path | string | Local file path (for get/put operations) | | Recursive | boolean | Recursive mode for mkdir/rmdir |

Operations

list

Lists contents of a remote directory.

Input: msg.remotePath or msg.payload (path string) Output: msg.payload - Array of file objects with name, type, size, modifyTime

get

Downloads a file from the remote server.

Input: msg.remotePath - Remote file path Output: msg.payload - File contents as Buffer, or {success, localPath} if local path specified

put

Uploads a file to the remote server.

Input: msg.payload - Buffer with file contents, or use msg.localPath for local file Output: msg.payload - {success: true, remotePath}

delete

Deletes a file on the remote server.

Input: msg.remotePath - File to delete Output: msg.payload - {success: true, deleted}

mkdir

Creates a directory on the remote server.

Input: msg.remotePath - Directory path, msg.recursive - Create parent directories Output: msg.payload - {success: true, created}

rmdir

Removes a directory on the remote server.

Input: msg.remotePath - Directory path, msg.recursive - Remove contents Output: msg.payload - {success: true, removed}

rename

Renames or moves a file/directory.

Input: msg.remotePath - Source path, msg.newPath - Destination path Output: msg.payload - {success: true, from, to}

exists

Checks if a path exists on the remote server.

Input: msg.remotePath - Path to check Output: msg.payload - 'd' (directory), '-' (file), 'l' (link), or false; msg.exists - boolean

stat

Gets file/directory information.

Input: msg.remotePath - Path to stat Output: msg.payload - Stats object with size, mode, accessTime, modifyTime

Message Properties

All operations add metadata to the output message:

msg.sftp = {
    operation: 'list',
    remotePath: '/home/user/files',
    host: 'sftp.example.com',
    port: 22
}

Input Overrides

You can override node configuration via message properties:

| Property | Description | |----------|-------------| | msg.operation | Override the operation type | | msg.remotePath | Override the remote path | | msg.localPath | Override the local path | | msg.newPath | Destination path for rename | | msg.recursive | Override recursive setting | | msg.host | Override server host | | msg.port | Override server port | | msg.username | Override username |

Examples

List Directory

msg.remotePath = '/home/user/documents';
msg.operation = 'list';
return msg;

Download File to Buffer

msg.remotePath = '/home/user/data.csv';
msg.operation = 'get';
return msg;
// Output: msg.payload contains file buffer

Upload from Buffer

msg.payload = Buffer.from('Hello World');
msg.remotePath = '/home/user/hello.txt';
msg.operation = 'put';
return msg;

Check if File Exists

msg.remotePath = '/home/user/config.json';
msg.operation = 'exists';
return msg;
// Output: msg.exists = true/false

Status Indicators

| Status | Meaning | |--------|---------| | Yellow dot | Connecting to server | | Green dot | Connected / Operation complete | | Blue dot | Operation in progress | | Red ring | Error occurred |

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• Node-RED >= 2.0.0

License

MIT

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome at GitHub.

Author

Trajche [email protected]