How do I sftp to a server if the username contains @ symbol

Question

I have to sftp to a server to a specific port but the username contains the @ symbol.

suppose the user is "[email protected]" and the ftp server is just "example.com"

I will end with

sftp -oPort:8777 [email protected]@example.com

what will obviously not work, as I have tested.

What kind of amateur creates a username with @? Ok, my boss did.

How do I solve that?

Try escaping the "commercial at" like so `sftp -oPort:8777 user\@[email protected]` — Tim, Oct 21 '13 at 16:35
If you remove the username portion and just leave the domain, does it prompt you for the username once you've entered the command? — ladaghini, Oct 21 '13 at 16:35
@ladaghini - this is to be used inside a script... no prompt available. Ok, I know the implications of having username and password in a script, but this username has a limited area. It has to be sftp because this server just generates usernames for sftp. — Duck, Oct 21 '13 at 16:51

score 44 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 04 '18 at 20:42

44

Pass the user name through the -o User option, or through the equivalent User directive in the client configuration file (~/.ssh/config).

sftp -o Port:8777 -o [email protected] example.com

This applies to ssh, scp and sshfs as well. Using the configuration file instead of -o options has the advantage of also working with tools that call ssh and don't let you easily pass command line options if at all.

edited Jul 04 '18 at 20:42

Patrick Mevzek

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answered Oct 21 '13 at 16:41

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'

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This username has not ssh access, just sftp. – Duck Oct 21 '13 at 16:48
@DigitalRobot s/ssh/sftp/ – ladaghini Oct 21 '13 at 16:54
@DigitalRobot This works for both `ssh` and `sftp` (and `scp` too). – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Oct 21 '13 at 16:59
Go on. What should we do if the passwd also contain '@' or '/' – Shicheng Guo Feb 09 '17 at 02:11
@ShichengGuo ??? There's no problem with `@` or `/` in the password. You just type them. SSH doesn't even allow any way to pass the password on the command line option or in a configuration file. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Feb 09 '17 at 10:27

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 13 '14 at 19:59

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sftp -o Port:8777 '[email protected]'@domain.com

This would also work, although its really quite poor form for them to provision users with this type of name.

answered Nov 13 '14 at 19:59

SFTP Special

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 07 '19 at 09:29

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Replacing @ ("commercial at") with + ("plus sign)" could be acceptable on some SFTP servers:

sftp -oPort:8777 [email protected]

answered Oct 07 '19 at 09:29

AntonK

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How do I sftp to a server if the username contains @ symbol

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