# SCP instead of SFTP

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/scp-instead-of-sftp/20340>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Created:** [January 25, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/scp-instead-of-sftp/20340 "2016-01-25T14:53:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Heinrich\_Piard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heinrich\_Piard](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Heinrich_Piard)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/scp-instead-of-sftp/20340/1 "2016-01-25T14:53:41Z")

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Hi all,

I am using this ansible.cfg

[defaults]  
host\_key\_checking=false  
ansible\_user=ich  
ansible\_ssh\_private\_key\_file=/home/mylocation/key  
remote\_user = root  
transport=smart

[ssh\_connection]  
scp\_if\_ssh=True

When I tail /var/log/secure on the remote machine I see the login attempt but it is trying sftp instead of scp.

Jan 25 09:52:36 hostx sshd[7164]: Accepted publickey for root from 10.10.10.10 port 58673 ssh2  
Jan 25 09:52:36 hostx sshd[7164]: subsystem request for sftp  
Jan 25 09:52:36 hostx sshd[7164]: subsystem request for sftp failed, subsystem not found

Anything I am missing?

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**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/scp-instead-of-sftp/20340/2 "2016-01-25T18:54:26Z")

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a lot of information .... can you show the command ansible runs with  
-vvvv? what versions of ansible/python/OS? what is minimal way to  
reproduce the issue?

FYI, 'smart' means ansible will use ssh if it deems it can, otherwise  
it can fallback to paramiko which does not respect the setting.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Heinrich\_Piard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heinrich\_Piard](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Heinrich_Piard)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/scp-instead-of-sftp/20340/3 "2016-01-25T21:47:46Z")

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Using the following ansible/python/OS:

Python 2.7.9  
ansible 2.0.0.2  
OS Debian 7.8