SFTP Server

Network and UC engineers often need a SFTP server.  I've been using FreeFTPd for years due to it's small size and free.  However FreeFTPd's encryption algorithm was outdated and not supported by some version of Cisco UC appliances.  I have been looking for an alternative for quite some time with no luck.  Solarwinds' SFTP server is "Free" but with 4GB limit.  Other products are either too bukly or not free at all.

It turned out that Windows (Server or Desktop) has an "OpenSSH" option which works pretty well.

Go to Apps > Add optional features > Search for OpenSSH Server.  Once installed, there will be two services.  Start these two services.

By default, user has access to C:\, which is also the root directory of the SFTP server.  However, Cisco UC appliance cannot handle that (with the SFTP root as "/C:/").  To change the SFTP root, you may edit the %programdata%\ssh\sshd_config file.  Say, you want to make "C:\SFTP" as the SFTP root directory, add the following line to the file:

ChrootDirectory "C:\SFTP"

Restart the OpenSSH services to take effect.