Site-Specific SFTP Access

Site-Specific SFTP Access

When you need to give a designer, developer, or deployment tool access to your site’s files — but you don’t want them touching anything else on the server — site-specific SFTP accounts are the answer. FlyWP lets you create a separate login for each site, locked down to that site’s directory only. No shared passwords, no accidental access to other sites.

Tip

This feature is most useful when you’re handing off a site to a freelancer, connecting a deployment pipeline, or troubleshooting files remotely. It keeps access scoped and revocable without touching your server’s main SSH (Secure Shell) credentials.

FlyWP lets you create dedicated SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol — a secure way to transfer files over an encrypted connection) accounts for each site on your server. Each account is locked to a single site’s directory, so the account holder can only access the files for that site. FlyWP provisions and removes these accounts in the background, so you stay in control without needing to manage users on the server directly.

Connection Details

SFTP accounts in FlyWP use a non-standard port for added security:

Setting	Value
Protocol	SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol)
Port	20022
Host	Your server’s IP address
Username	The username you set when creating the account

FlyWP uses port 20022 for SFTP — not the standard port 22. Make sure your SFTP client is configured to connect on port 20022, or the connection will fail.

Creating an SFTP Account

To create a new SFTP account for a site, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to your site and click the File Management tab.
2. Scroll to the SFTP Accounts section.
3. Click Create SFTP Account.
4. Enter a username — it must be unique across the entire server.
5. Choose a credential type:
   • Password — provide a password between 16 and 32 characters.
   • SSH Key — paste your public SSH key (the .pub file generated on your local machine).
6. Click Create.

FlyWP provisions the account in the background. The status will show Creating while the account is being set up, then change to Active once it is ready.

Account Statuses

Each account moves through a lifecycle that you can track at a glance:

Status	Meaning
Creating	FlyWP is provisioning the account on the server
Active	The account is ready to use
Updating	FlyWP is applying credential changes
Deleting	FlyWP is removing the account
Failed	Something went wrong — try deleting and recreating the account

Connecting with an SFTP Client

Any SFTP-compatible client works — FileZilla, Cyberduck, WinSCP, VS Code Remote, and others. Use the following settings when configuring your client:

Host: your-server-ip
Port: 20022
Protocol: SFTP
Username: your-sftp-username
Authentication: Password or SSH Key

Tip

Most modern code editors (VS Code, PhpStorm, Sublime Text) support SFTP extensions that let you edit remote files as if they were local. Use the credentials from FlyWP to set up a remote connection and edit files directly without a separate file transfer client.

Deleting an SFTP Account

When you no longer need to grant access — for example, after a project handoff — you can remove the account immediately:

1. Find the account in the SFTP Accounts list.
2. Click the Delete button.
3. Confirm the deletion.

FlyWP removes the account from the server, and those credentials can no longer be used to connect.

Note

Each SFTP account is isolated to the site’s root directory. The account holder cannot navigate outside of that site’s files or access other sites on the same server.

Related Pages

• File Manager
• Git Deployment
• SSH Keys
• Server Security Overview