Connecting to a server

Connections start in the Login dialog: File › Login…, or Ctrl+L (⌘+L on a Mac). It keeps your servers as sites, so you only type their details once.

Adding a site

Click New Site.
Choose the File protocol (see which one), and fill in the Host name (like files.example.com, or an address like 192.0.2.10), the Port if it is not the usual one, and your User name.
Give it an Alias if you like (a name such as "Web server"), and a Description for your own notes.
Click Save, then Login.

To change a site later, select it and click Edit. Sites can be sorted into folders: create one with the folder button below the list, and drag sites into it.

Passwords and keys

An SSH server can check who you are in two ways:

A password. Tick Save password to keep it. It is stored in your system's password store (the desktop keyring on Linux, the Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows), never in a plain file.
An SSH key: a pair of files made together. The public key is placed on the server; the private key stays on your computer and proves it is you, without a password crossing the network. Choose it under Private key file (OpenSSH keys, and PuTTY .ppk keys, both work). If the key has a passphrase, ShuttleSCP asks for it.

With Use SSH agent ticked, ShuttleSCP also offers the keys your SSH agent holds (the program that keeps unlocked keys while you are logged in; on Windows, the OpenSSH agent or PuTTY's Pageant). It tries, in this order, the key file, the agent's keys, then the password: the same order as the ssh command.

Host keys: "Do you trust this server?"

Every SSH server has a host key, a kind of digital fingerprint that identifies it. The first time you connect, ShuttleSCP has never seen it, so it asks:

Unknown Server. Trust the server files.example.com? Its host key fingerprint is SHA256:…

If you can, compare that fingerprint with the one your host or administrator gives you, then click Trust and Connect. ShuttleSCP remembers the key in ~/.ssh/known_hosts, the same list the ssh command uses, and does not ask again.

"The host key has changed." If a server you trusted shows a different key, ShuttleSCP refuses to connect. It can mean the server was reinstalled, or that someone is intercepting the connection. Ask the server's administrator before doing anything else. If the change is genuine, remove the server's old line from ~/.ssh/known_hosts (the message says which line), then connect again.

FTPS servers prove who they are with a certificate instead. If the certificate cannot be checked (many FTP servers make their own), ShuttleSCP shows Untrusted Certificate with its fingerprint, and remembers your answer.

Moving your sites to another computer

Export..., at the bottom of the Login dialog, saves your sites to a file. Tick Include saved passwords to bring them along: they are encrypted with a passphrase you choose (at least 8 characters). On the other computer, Import... reads the file and asks for that passphrase.