SFTP servers
Settings → SFTP servers is where your organisation connects out to its own SFTP server — see Sending and pulling files over SFTP for the full guide to what can be sent and pulled.
What it is
A list of your organisation’s configured servers, each with its own connection details, authentication method, host-key pinning status and last test result, plus an activity log of every test, send and pull. HousingSurvey Pro is always the client here, never a listener you connect into. It’s a Platform-plan feature.
Before you start
SFTP requires the Platform plan, organisation-admin access to Settings, and an SFTP account your organisation already controls.
How to do it
- Open Settings → SFTP servers and click Add server.
- Enter the host, port, username and remote path, choose an authentication method (SSH key, password, or both), and click Save.
- For a key-based server, click Mint key (ed25519) (recommended) or Mint (RSA-4096) if your server doesn’t support it — the public half is shown once, ready to append to the server’s
authorized_keys. - Click Test connection to run a real handshake and a read-only listing of the remote path. On the first successful test, verify the shown fingerprint out of band with your IT team, then Confirm & pin it.
- Toggle Enabled off to pause a server immediately — no sends, EDI deliveries or pulls go through it while disabled, but Test connection still works so you can fix a problem first.
How it integrates
Once a fingerprint is pinned, any future connection presenting a different host key is refused until a human re-confirms it — this catches both a legitimate re-key and a compromised connection the same way. Every outbound file is written to a hidden temporary name first, then renamed into place, so nothing downstream ever sees a partially written file. This same server list is what Data and exports’ nightly EDI export can deliver to, in addition to its CSV download.
Common problems
- Test connection fails at the fingerprint step. Your server presented a different host key than the one previously pinned — verify the new one with your IT team out of band before re-pinning; never re-pin on trust alone.
- Test connection fails at authentication. The username or password is wrong, or the public key isn’t installed (or was removed) from
authorized_keyson the server. - The whole section shows an upgrade notice. SFTP is a Platform-plan feature — every other Settings section is unaffected below that tier.