Exercise

Downloading Files with sftp Exercise

Task

Download /etc/group from servera with an interactive sftp session.

Local host: workstation
Remote host: servera

Open a transfer session and inspect both sides

On workstation, prepare the local destination and connect to servera.
```
mkdir -p /home/student/Downloads
sftp student@servera
lpwd
pwd
```
Two working directories The sftp> prompt has replaced your shell prompt. lpwd shows the local directory on workstation; pwd shows the remote directory on servera.
Navigate the local and remote filesystems

Point the local side at the destination directory, then point the remote side at the source directory.
```
lcd /home/student/Downloads
lpwd
cd /etc
pwd
```
Local or remote? Commands prefixed with l act on workstation. Commands without that prefix act on servera.
Download and verify the group file

Confirm the file exists on the remote side, then download it and list the local directory from inside the session.
```
ls group
get group
lls
```
Get the remote file get reads from the current remote directory and writes into the current local directory.
Leave the session and clean up

Return to the shell, verify and read the downloaded file, then remove it.
```
bye
ls -l /home/student/Downloads
cat /home/student/Downloads/group
rm /home/student/Downloads/group
```
Key idea lcd chose where the file landed. cd chose where it came from. The two sides are independent.