How can I connect to SFTP using Nautilus (Files)

[dragonfly41]

My idea was a blind alley following this old thread.

Your proxy mode is 'none'. If it had been set to 'auto' we might have pursued it further.

[Paddy Landau]

My idea was a blind alley following this old thread.

Your proxy mode is 'none'. If it had been set to 'auto' we might have pursued it further.

Well, thank you for your attempts. I do appreciate your time and effort.

I hope that someone else has an idea.

[dragonfly41]

If I were in your shoes I would jump out of this alligator pit and try Nautilus in a newly created guest user account to test if the same problems arise. Or even in Ubuntu in a fresh virtual machine in VirtualBox.

[Paddy Landau]

If I were in your shoes I would jump out of this alligator pit and try Nautilus in a newly created guest user account to test if the same problems arise. Or even in Ubuntu in a fresh virtual machine in VirtualBox.

Good idea!

I created a brand new user, and copied across just the private key and config.

It's the same. I can access the remote server with sftp, but Nautilus still complains, "Could not display sg (sftp). The file is of an unknown type."

[dragonfly41]

Another user with same problem .. but no answer ..

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1251...nsions-on-sftp

Another reference ..

https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-use...ransfer-files/

I would just use PuTTY client until this is solved. Law of diminishing returns applies.

[Paddy Landau]

Another user with same problem .. but no answer ..

Well spotted! I didn't find that in my searches. It seems that that person can connect, and only gets this error when accessing specific files. Whereas I get that error regardless when trying to connect in the first place.

Another reference ..

Thanks. That's for CLI commands. I've managed to make the CLI commands work. It's only Nautilus that's giving me problems!

I would just use PuTTY client until this is solved. Law of diminishing returns applies.

Well, I have FileZilla. I'll use that until I can get Nautilus to work. FileZilla is an excellent app, which usually does everything that I need, but for this specific host, Nautilus would be more convenient because of the workflow.

[Paddy Landau]

Another user with same problem .. but no answer ..

Actually, this link has proven useful. Comparing to other servers from the same host…

I can use the other servers without a problem from Nautilus. However, to access them, I need to give the correct starting directory, /home/[name]. E.g.
sftp://exa/home/mystart

But, the one that's giving me problems uses a virtual disk. The top-level directories within that virtual disk are directories from other servers (plural). I think that when Nautilus attempts to connect, it gets confused and fails.

It may be that this specific server just can't be used with Nautilus?

[dragonfly41]

Do you have write permissions on that server?

[Paddy Landau]

Do you have write permissions on that server?

Yes, I do. I can create, delete and modify files in it.

But.

Now that you mention it, in all of its subdirectories, yes, but not in the "root" (home).

That shouldn't make a difference, though, because I can still access the server through sftp or FileZilla, right? Nautilus must be accessing the server somehow differently from sftp and FileZilla.

[dragonfly41]

Try this guide

And a further thought.

You wrote "I've managed to make the CLI commands work. It's only Nautilus that's giving me problems!"

Can you open terminal from within Nautilus (right click on folder, Open terminal here) and then apply terminal commands?