Search recursively for text in remote directory / Grep files over SFTP/FTP protocol

The following example uses WinSCP .NET assembly from a PowerShell script. If you have another preferred language, you can easily translate it.

You can run the script (e.g. search.ps1) from WinSCP GUI using local custom command:

powershell.exe -File search.ps1 -path "!/" -text !?Text:?!

See also Listing files matching wildcard.

You can alter the script for other tasks, instead of grepping the matching files. You can for example remove or download the matching files. Just modify the action in the Action on match block accordingly.

param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory)]
    $path,
    [Parameter(Mandatory)]
    $text,
    $wildcard = "*.*"
)
 
function SearchDirectory ($session, $path, $wildcard, $text)
{
    Write-Host ("Searching directory {0} ..." -f $path)
 
    $directoryInfo = $session.ListDirectory($path)
 
    foreach ($fileInfo in $directoryInfo.Files)
    {
        $filePath = ($path + "/" + $fileInfo.Name) 
        
        if ($fileInfo.IsDirectory)
        {
            # Skip references to current and parent directories
            if (($fileInfo.Name -ne ".") -and
                ($fileInfo.Name -ne ".."))
            {
                # Recurse into subdirectory
                SearchDirectory $session $filePath $wildcard $text
            }
        }
        else
        {
            # Does file name match wildcard?
            if ($fileInfo.Name -Like $wildcard)
            {
                # Action on match
 
                # Modify the code below if you want to do another task with
                # matching files, instead of grepping their contents
 
                Write-Host ("File {0} matches mask, searching contents..." -f $filePath)
                $tempPath = ($env:temp + "\" + $fileInfo.Name)
                # Download file to temporary directory
                $transferResult = $session.GetFiles($session.EscapeFileMask($filePath), $tempPath)
                # Did the download succeeded?
                if (!$transferResult.IsSuccess)
                {
                    # Print error (but continue with other files)
                    Write-Host $transferResult.Failures[0].Message
                }
                else
                {
                    # Search and print lines containing "text".
                    # Use -Pattern instead of -SimpleMatch for regex search
                    $matchInfo = Select-String -Path $tempPath -SimpleMatch $text
                    # Print the results
                    foreach ($match in $matchInfo)
                    {
                        Write-Host ($filePath + ":" + $match.LineNumber + ":" + $match.Line)
                    }
                    # Delete temporary local copy
                    Remove-Item $tempPath
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
 
try
{
    # Load WinSCP .NET assembly
    Add-Type -Path "WinSCPnet.dll"
 
    # Setup session options
    $sessionOptions = New-Object WinSCP.SessionOptions
    $sessionOptions.Protocol = [WinSCP.Protocol]::Sftp
    $sessionOptions.HostName = "example.com"
    $sessionOptions.UserName = "user"
    $sessionOptions.Password = "mypassword"
    $sessionOptions.SshHostKeyFingerprint = "ssh-rsa 2048 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx"
 
    $session = New-Object WinSCP.Session
    
    try
    {
        # Connect
        $session.Open($sessionOptions)
        
        # Start recursive search
        SearchDirectory $session $path $wildcard $text
    }
    finally
    {
        # Disconnect, clean up
        $session.Dispose()
    }
 
    exit 0
}
catch [Exception]
{
    Write-Host $_.Exception.Message
    exit 1
}