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SFTP Status/Error Codes
SFTP status/error codes are a numerical codes that an SFTP server1 uses to indicate a result of a client request (i.e. a request sent by WinSCP to the server).
WinSCP translates the numerical codes to a textual description for you, so you do not have to remember them.
The SFTP server should also provide a meaningful textual description of the error itself. WinSCP includes the server-side description in its error message, labeled “Error message from server”. Such description can include more detailed information than WinSCP can possibly deduce from the numerical code.
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Code 4 (Failure)
Note that not all servers use all codes. Most SSH/SFTP servers, including the most commonly used OpenSSH, support only SFTP version 3 that defines only codes 0 to 8.
These servers would generally use code 4 (Failure) for many errors for which there is a specific code defined in the later versions of SFTP protocol, such as:
- Renaming a file to a name of already existing file.
- Creating a directory that already exists.
- Moving a remote file to a different filesystem (HDD).
- Uploading a file to a full filesystem (HDD).
- Exceeding a user disk quota.
In this case the server is required to provide meaningful description of the error itself (see above). Unfortunately, OpenSSH SFTP server uses always description “Failure”. Is such case, there is unfortunately no way to tell a reason of the failure.
- Exception are codes
6and7that intended to by used by client. But WinSCP never uses these.Back