AWS Transfer Family is a fully managed service that enables you to transfer files into and out of Amazon S3 or Amazon EFS using the SFTP, FTPS, and FTP protocols. This post will guide you through the steps to log in to AWS Transfer Family using both your User ID and Password and an SSH Key Pair.

Prerequisites

  1. AWS Account: You need an AWS account. If you don’t have one, you can create one at AWS Free Tier.
  2. AWS Transfer Family Server: Ensure you have set up an AWS Transfer Family server. If not, follow the AWS Transfer Family documentation to create one.
  3. User Configuration: Users should be configured in AWS Transfer Family with the necessary permissions.

Logging in Using User ID and Password

  1. Configure User:
    • Navigate to the AWS Transfer Family console.
    • Select your server and go to the “Users” tab.
    • Click “Add user” and fill in the required details including User ID, role, and home directory.
    • Set the authentication method to “Password” and enter the desired password.
  2. Connect to AWS Transfer Family:
    • Use an SFTP client like FileZilla or WinSCP.
    • Open the SFTP client and enter the server endpoint (e.g., s-xxxxxx.server.transfer.region.amazonaws.com), your username, and password.
    • Connect to the server and start transferring files.

Logging in Using SSH Key Pair

  1. Generate SSH Key Pair:

On Linux/macOS: Open a terminal and run:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C “your_email@example.com”

  • On Windows: Use an SSH client like PuTTYgen to generate the key pair.
  1. Configure User with SSH Key:
    • Navigate to the AWS Transfer Family console.
    • Select your server and go to the “Users” tab.
    • Click “Add user” or select an existing user.
    • Set the authentication method to “SSH Key”.
    • Copy the contents of your SSH public key (id_rsa.pub) and paste it into the “SSH public key” field.
  2. Connect to AWS Transfer Family:
    • Use an SFTP client or command line.
    • For SFTP clients like FileZilla or WinSCP, select the key file during configuration.

On the command line, use:

sftp -i /path/to/private/key username@s-xxxxxx.server.transfer.region.amazonaws.com

  • Connect to the server and start transferring files.

Conclusion

AWS Transfer Family provides a secure and efficient way to transfer files using different authentication methods. Whether you prefer using a user ID and password or the security of an SSH key pair, AWS Transfer Family supports your requirements.