Configuring SFTP and Using SSH Keys in Transmit

If you've never used SSH keys to authenticate when connecting over SFTP, the process can look a bit intimidating. Don't worry, it's actually quite a simple process and often times can be even simpler than standard password authentication.

In this article, we'll show you how to configure Transmit to use SSH keys to connect to your site via SFTP.

Requirements

This article assumes that you have already generated an SSH key pair and have uploaded your public key to the server that you're connecting to.

For more information on generating SSH keys and adding it to your Pagely account, see our article on setting up SSH access on MacOS.

Configuring Transmit

Transmit is a great SFTP client and is quite easy to set up. Here's how to configure it:

1. Start by adding a new site using + icon on the bottom-left of the Servers tab.
   
   
2. You'll now be prompted to select the type of server that you'll be connecting to. Since we're setting up SFTP in this article, select SFTP and then click Next.
   
   
3. Next, enter the hostname (typically your domain) that you'll be connecting to into the Address field. If you're connecting to a Pagely-hosted WordPress site but haven't yet pointed your domain to it, take a look at our article on finding your hostname.
   
   
4. In the User Name field, enter your username. For Pagely-hosted WordPress apps, this begins with client_ and can be found within your account details in Atomic.
   
   
5. Since you're using an SSH key to authenticate with the server, you'll leave the Password field blank.
   
   • If your key is currently located inside the standard location of ~/.ssh, Transmit will automatically look for your key and you won't need to perform any additional actions to use it.
   • If your SSH key is located somewhere else, you'll need to add the key to Transmit so that it knows where it is. To do that, click on the Key icon to the right of the Password field, then click Edit to add your key.
     
     
6. Finally, click on Save to save your settings.

Once you've saved your new connection details in Transmit, you're all set up! You're ready to connect and manage your files over SFTP using Transmit.