SFTP for Microsoft Office 365 SharePoint and OneDrive

SFTP (or FTP) is not supported by the Microsoft Suite (SharePoint and OneDrive) natively. Incredibly, even though SFTP (FTP) is such a legacy protocol, it is still widely used and required in this modern day. But how can you use SFTP in Microsoft Suite when it isn't supported natively? Fortunately, Couchdrop can help by adding SFTP functionality to your existing cloud storage.

What is SFTP?

SFTP is a file transfer protocol that allows for secure file transfers between remote endpoints. It is used primarily for file sharing between organizations, but also for workflow automation and backups. SFTP is more secure than other file transfer methods so is often used for handling sensitive data like healthcare records and financial information. 

SFTP for Microsoft with Couchdrop

There aren’t many products out there that enable you to turn your OneDrive or SharePoint into an SFTP/FTP server where external users can send and receive data. One solution to this is Couchdrop. Couchdrop is the only SFTP/FTP server that integrates with all the major cloud storage providers by default, enabling you to turn them into your SFTP endpoint.

Other features include granular security and permissions, the ability to restrict users to specific folders, a branded portal which can be used as a file system and a fully featured API (and webhooks) that you can use to automate and into build workflows.

One of the standout features of Couchdrop is that it never stores your data at any point (unless you choose Couchdrop's hosted storage) and instead works to facilitate file transfers between your existing storage. Your files are kept within your storage at all times and then Couchdrop moves files between your connected storage platforms, which includes support for over 30 cloud storage providers as well as on-prem file servers. 

Connecting SFTP/FTP to O365 SharePoint and OneDrive 

To summarise this article, the steps to configure SFTP/FTP for O365 SharePoint and OneDrive are:

• Create a Couchdrop account

• Connect your SharePoint or OneDrive and specify the root directory

• Create additional users with granular permissions and directory access

• Manage file transfers directly in Couchdrop or SFTP/FTP remotely using the credentials created via sftp.couchdrop.io or ftp.couchdrop.io

Create an account

Configuring your Microsoft storage as an SFTP/FTP server takes less than a minute. As mentioned earlier, all you need to do is create an account and connect your storage using OAuth. Follow below for a more detailed guide.

First, register for an account. It's quick and easy and takes about a minute. Keep in mind that the information you use here will be used to make your SFTP server, so choose a username and password you'll also want to use for SFTP. 

Connect your storage

We will connect to SharePoint for this guide. Head to your storage tab and select SharePoint. You can specifically enter a document library URL, otherwise, you can leave it blank to connect all your document libraries, you can filter user access to specific libraries by their root path later on.

Create additional users (optional)

You can create additional users here. Additional settings you have are permissions, a firewall to restrict IP access, limit protocol access (disable FTP), and restrict the user to a specific folder as their root directory.

Connecting to Couchdrop

Once your SharePoint connection is integrated with Couchdrop, you can manage files directly in the simple web interface. Files can be uploaded and downloaded directly from the browser, and since you can limit a user to a specific folder as their root directory they'll only see the information they have access to. 

Connecting with an SFTP client

Alternatively, you can also connect to Couchdrop from any SFTP client. Simply create a user in Couchdrop and send the credentials to the user and they connect using the username and password with the SFTP client of their choice. 

To see the details of how to connect via SFTP or other transfer protocols, click the Connect button when logged into Couchdrop (my.couchdrop.io will be replaced with your subdomain). 

This will open up a menu of how to connect using different transfer protocols such as SFTP, FTP, SCP, and S3. 

Try Couchdrop SFTP for Microsoft free for 14 days

Need to see if Couchdrop SFTP for Microsoft Office 365 SharePoint and OneDrive will work for you? Give it a try and see for yourself. You can try Couchdrop free for 14 days with no credit card or call with a sales team required. Simply sign up and go. Start your free trial today.