Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP :: Support Forum

dovid
Joined:: 2006-02-09
Posts:: 2

Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP

2006-02-09 20:10

Hi,

I'm having problems logging in for the first time:

The log is:

. 2006-02-09 13:59:00.828 Looking up host "99.99.99.99"
. 2006-02-09 13:59:00.828 Connecting to 99.99.99.99 port 22
. 2006-02-09 13:59:00.937 Server version: SSH-1.99-OpenSSH_3.6.1p2
. 2006-02-09 13:59:00.937 We claim version: SSH-2.0-WinSCP_release_3.8
. 2006-02-09 13:59:00.937 Using SSH protocol version 2
. 2006-02-09 13:59:01.000 Doing Diffie-Hellman group exchange
. 2006-02-09 13:59:01.156 Doing Diffie-Hellman key exchange
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.000 Host key fingerprint is:
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.000 ssh-rsa 1024 30:ef:42:c8:2f:ea:80:03:be:60:c0:f9:0a:b1:5c:d1
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.000 Initialised AES-256 client->server encryption
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.000 Initialised HMAC-SHA1 client->server MAC algorithm
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.000 Initialised AES-256 server->client encryption
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.000 Initialised HMAC-SHA1 server->client MAC algorithm
! 2006-02-09 13:59:02.140 Using username "userid".
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.265 Keyboard-interactive authentication refused
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.265 Session password prompt (userid@99.99.99.99's password: )
. 2006-02-09 13:59:02.265 Asking user for password.
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.031 Sent password
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.109 Access granted
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.156 Opened channel for session
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.218 Started a shell/command
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.218 Server sent command exit status 1
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.218 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.218 Using SFTP protocol.
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.218 Doing startup conversation with host.
> 2006-02-09 13:59:18.218 Type: SSH_FXP_INIT, Size: 5, Number: -1
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.281 All channels closed. Disconnecting
. 2006-02-09 13:59:18.281 Server closed network connection
* 2006-02-09 13:59:18.281 (ESshFatal) Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP server?
* 2006-02-09 13:59:18.281 Connection has been unexpectedly closed. Server sent command exit status 1.

Any help is appreciated.

regards
David J.

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martin◆ Site Admin
Joined:: 2002-12-10
Posts:: 41,518
Location:: Prague, Czechia

Re: Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP

2006-02-09

Try other SFTP client. If you still cannot connect, it's server-side problem.

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dovid
Joined:: 2006-02-09
Posts:: 2

Tried with just SFTP

2006-02-09 20:40

Hi,

Just tried with just SFTP.

Got the same error.

It does connect to the server.

What do u think could be the problem on the server.

Thanks for your help.

dj

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martin◆ Site Admin

Re: Tried with just SFTP

2006-03-04

You may not have shell access. Or the SSH server cannot find/start the SFTP server.

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martin◆ Site Admin

Re: Tried with just SFTP

2008-02-14

Please read documentation for common reasons of getting this error and some resolution hints.

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affinity Guest

Resoluation to Problem

2009-07-11 12:20

My son has an scponlyc "shell" login on one of my servers.

He started to get this error:

Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP server?

He was trying to connect using WinSCP ....

The problem was that the chroot home directory wasn't owned by root, so the login failed. I fixed this and made sure his group could write to the directory, but it is now owned by root.

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kevymerry Guest

cannot intialize sftp

2010-03-29 14:17

I received same message, I realized my password was about to expire. I reset password, and then was able to connect.

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Meir Guest

Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP

2010-05-25 08:51

Hi all,

I have the same error in my server.
In the first time I get the error message, In the second time I get the access.
I'm using with this connection MySecureShell to be able to lock the user in his HOMEDIR.

Some one have a clue about this error?

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metal Guest

home dir hidden files

2011-08-15 12:32

Hello!

Please check the .profile, .bash_history, .bash_logout and .bashrc

They should have 755 permission – I changed these permission to 700 and started getting that same error.

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Guest

Re: home dir hidden files

2011-08-17 11:26

metal wrote:

Please check the .profile, .bash_history, .bash_logout and .bashrc

Oh my gosh! Thanks a lot.

I've been wondering for a long time why I keep getting this message all of a sudden. Could have never figured that it would be a permission setting on a .bashrc file.

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martin◆ Site Admin

Re: Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP

2011-08-18

For details about error message "Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP server?" see:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/message_cannot_initialize_sftp_protocol

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Guest

Re: home dir hidden files

2011-08-31 12:53

Change the ForceCommand line in /etc/ssh/sshd_config to:

ForceCommand internal-sftp

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David Docekal Guest

Re: home dir hidden files

2012-03-08 18:02

Change the ForceCommand line in /etc/ssh/sshd_config to:
ForceCommand internal-sftp

This helped!
Thanks a lot

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kevinleahy Guest

2012-12-19 11:00

For me the problem was that I was echo-ing text to the screen in .bashrc.
As soon as I removed this it worked.

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IvanSP Guest

Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP

2013-05-06 22:47

I was getting this error because my password expired. I reseted my password using PuTTY and worked.

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martin◆ Site Admin
Joined:: 2002-12-10
Posts:: 41,518
Location:: Prague, Czechia

Re: Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP

2013-05-09

IvanSP wrote:

I was getting this error because my password expired. I reseted my password using PuTTY and worked.

Thanks for sharing this.
You would actually find this resolution, if you follow link to "Server unexpectedly closed network connection" from:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/message_cannot_initialize_sftp_protocol

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Mystical2k Guest

Re: home dir hidden files

2013-05-20 22:01

Change the ForceCommand line in /etc/ssh/sshd_config to:
ForceCommand internal-sftp

For me too after days of trying out different file configs! Awesome!

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Charles87 Guest

Re: home dir hidden files

2013-10-28 15:50

metal wrote:

Please check the .profile, .bash_history, .bash_logout and .bashrc

This worked for me too! Thanks for the tip!

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Raju Balpande Guest

Solution: This is because the password is expired. Change password using putty.

2015-08-19 09:39

Hi all,
I faced this error, it was due to my password was expired, When I tried to login to terminal console using PuTTY it asked me to reset the password. After resetting password I am able to log in using WinSCP.

Thanks,
Raju Balpande.

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venkat Guest

2018-08-07 10:04

Your password might be expired. Log in to PuTTY using the same credentials and change the password.

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Guest

2019-03-28 13:34

Try this:

usermod -s /bin/bash user

(change user with your FTP/SFTP username)

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gaurav0918
Joined:: 2021-12-22
Posts:: 1
Location:: New Delhi, INdia

Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP server.

2021-12-22 14:10

Issue: We get this error while accessing SFTP server through Windows 10 machine:

Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP server? WinSCP error

Solution: Provide the path of the SFTP server, as shown in attached screenshot.

winscp-sftp-troubleshoot.PNG (17.19 KB)

Description: Please click here to see the screenshot.

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martin◆ Site Admin

Re: Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running a SFTP server.

2021-12-23

@gaurav0918: That's not a solution. That's a workaround for a misconfigured SFTP server. Please get the server fixed instead.

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User_hidd3n Guest

Awesome this worked! Thanks!!!

2021-12-29 22:21

@Guest: Awesome this worked! Thanks!

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DC Guest

Cannot initialize SFTP protocol. Is the host running an SFTP server? VCSA

2022-12-16 21:49

I was facing this issue while trying to connect WinSCP to VCSA 6.5.
Problem: Connect to VCSA via PuTTY you will get below screen instead of

Connected to service

    * List APIs: "help api list"
    * List Plugins: "help pi list"
    * Enable BASH access: "shell.set --enabled True"
    * Launch BASH: "shell"

Try the following steps:
Toggling the vCenter Server Appliance default shell

Once you permanently configure the default Shell to BASH for Root this issue will be fixed.

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