Looking for the best way to transfer files from an SFTP server to an Amazon S3 bucket. I’m not sure what tools or scripts to use and want to avoid manual steps. Has anyone set up an automated process for this? Any advice or recommended workflows would help.
Effortlessly Shuffling Data: Moving Files Between SFTP and Amazon S3 with CloudMounter
So you’ve got files chilling on some remote SFTP box and you need them on Amazon S3 (or vice versa)? And you don’t want to code up another weekend CLI python mess or run rsync in your sleep? Let’s cut through the noise: here’s how you can treat it like copy-pasting in Finder, but with CloudMounter.
Introduction: Why Am I Even Here?
If you’re banging your head against the wall because you need to move or sync files between an SFTP server and an S3 bucket—and your bash skills aren’t quite up to ninja level—read on. This is for anyone who wants a GUI-based shortcut instead of dealing with yet another script.
The Nitty Gritty: Setting Up the Tools
- Get CloudMounter: Download and install CloudMounter on your Mac.
- Pop Open CloudMounter: It lives quietly in your menu bar, ready for action. You can actually forget it’s there (until you need it).
- Connect Your Accounts: Add your SFTP and S3 connections within the app. No, this doesn’t require sacrificing a goat or knowing three-letter AWS acronyms. Just pop in the credentials and test ‘em.
The Step-by-Step: Because Screenshots Don’t Exist in Text
- Mount Both Drives:
- Your SFTP server shows up like an external drive.
- Your S3 bucket pretends to be a friendly Mac folder.
- Open Finder: Everything you configured now shows up on the left, ready for action.
- Drag and Drop: Seriously, that’s it. Move your files and folders just like normal—no terminal, no tears. Want to move an old set of server logs to S3 cold storage? Select ‘em, drag ‘em, go grab a coffee.
What If Something Screws Up?
AWS connection won’t authenticate? Double-check your keys aren’t stale. SFTP timing out? Could be the server, could be your wireless, could be Mercury retrograde. The realism: sometimes you just need to reboot stuff. Or, log out and log back in via CloudMounter. Worst case, try uploading just a few files first to smoke-test the connection.
Pros, Cons, & Stuff Nobody Tells You
Pros:
- No terminal, no scripts, no AWS CLI.
- SFTP and S3 act like normal drives.
- Can shuffle gobs of data without pulling your hair out.
Cons:
- You need to trust a third-party app with your secrets.
- Free version is limited—be ready for a subscription.
- Large files? Depends on your internet, not app magic.
Use Cases (learned the hard way):
- Archiving MySQL backups from a VPS to AWS for long-term safekeeping.
- Side-stepping complicated automated workflows just to move some CSVs.
- Cleaning up legacy SFTP data without SSH-ing into 6 different servers.
TL;DR
Mount your SFTP and S3 in CloudMounter, drag stuff from A to B in Finder, and avoid sweating over the command line for common file transfer chores. Is it revolutionary? Nah. Is it stupidly simple? Yep.
If anyone needs screenshots, let me know and I’ll slap some up. Otherwise, feel free to ask if something’s funky or if you want tips about weird S3 path conventions.
3 Likes
Honestly, third-party GUI like CloudMounter (called out by @mikeappsreviewer) has its place, but if you’re after a real hands-off, scheduled transfer – aka “do this at 2am while I snore” – you’ll want to roll with automation. Here’s the thing: pretty Finder drags get old if you need to do this repeatedly, or for many files, or on a headless server.
Here’s what actually works for those of us allergic to mouse mileage and who want real automation:
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Using AWS Transfer Family: The enterprise-y way. Point AWS Transfer to your S3 bucket and configure your SFTP as a source or target. Benefits: Native, scalable, minimal maintenance. Downside: costs more, AWS hoops, a bit of setup pain if you’re not already knee-deep in IAM roles.
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rclone: For semi-tech but more scriptable options, rclone’s “copy” or “sync” between SFTP and s3 is gold. One command, set it as a cron job or scheduled task, and boom: hands-free operation at 2am. Pro tip: It actually retries, resumes, verifies, and everything your “drag-n-drop” can’t.
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AWS CLI + SFTP Command Line: If you can script, pipe files through sftp or use sshfs to mount the SFTP drive and then aws s3 cp/move. Bit hacky, but automatable. Not a CloudMounter vibe, but 100% set-and-forget, especially for recurring tasks.
You wanna avoid going overboard with GUIs for automation (unless you can script the GUI, which, yikes), but CloudMounter does have a spot if you’re moving occasional stuff and can trust a third-party with creds. For pipelines, cron, or “fire and forget” – CLI stuff wins.
So, if you don’t mind popping open GUIs and moving a few files every so often, by all means, pop CloudMounter and bask in that drag-and-drop life. If you want zero manual anything, just script it or use AWS-native. Wouldn’t say one’s universally better, but after that first week of daily copy-pasting you’ll be like, “Why didn’t I just automate this?”
Has anyone figured a sweet hybrid—like CloudMounter plus a Hazel rule or something—so the moves trigger on changes? Now that’s the workflow I’d wanna see. Anyone?
Look, nobody wants to spend their nights masterminding SFTP-to-S3 drama, so I totally get the quest for something brainless and even automatic. Props to @mikeappsreviewer and @yozora for calling out options ranging from GUI chill with CloudMounter to dead serious automation (rclone, AWS Transfer Family, terminal voodoo).
But honestly—can we have a middle ground? CloudMounter is slick for dragging a handful of files, but one gotcha I hit: it eats bandwidth on big recursive folder moves like a TikTok influencer chugging Prime energy. Tried dumping 12GB of logs and, yeah, Finder did the beachball-of-doom. Fun if you only need to copy yesterday’s export, less so if you inherited an entire SFTP archive from 2017.
For automation where you’re hands-off, I’m kinda baffled why nobody’s mentioned commercial integration tools like Mulesoft or Zapier (with SFTP/S3 modules) if you can stomach some cloud costs? They offer drag-and-drop job UIs for business folks and can throw in scheduling, basic notifications, and retries without you learning python OR putting AWS CLI on every machine your team ever touches.
Or, for the dorks like me: check out FileZilla Pro—it does S3 and SFTP in one spot, and supports queuing, but not true hands-off automation unless you script w/some other tool. Using it for a weekly export via bookmark workflows is oddly soothing, but still manual.
All that said, if you want SEO-friendly, one-click mounting for non-coders right now, CloudMounter really is legit—as long as you aren’t moving tens of thousands of files every night. (Also, yeah, pay for the subscription unless you love fake limits.)
TLDR: If you want set-and-forget, CloudMounter isn’t the answer. If you hate code and need occasional file moves sans CLI, it rocks. For actual automation, cough up for rclone, AWS native stuff, or even an integration service if you’ve got the budget and want to keep your hands semi-clean. No one solution is perfect—your pain threshold and checkbook will decide.