Technical Notes

Secure Shell (SSH, SCP, and SFTP) Return Codes in UNIX
Technical Note 2487
Last Reviewed 05-Feb-2010
Applies To
Reflection for Secure IT UNIX Client version 7.0 or higher
Summary

This technical note lists the error or exit codes for Reflection command line utilities SSH, SCP, and SFTP in UNIX.

For a list of SSH, SCP, and SFTP return codes in Windows, see Technical Note 2285.

Error Codes

The purpose of an error code is to describe the error occurring in a program; it may display on the command line or in a log or a trace file.

SSH Error Codes

0	Success
1	Generic error
2	Remote host connection failure

SCP/SFTP Error Codes

The numbering scheme of the SCP/SFTP error codes was derived by adding 64 to the RFC4253 error code, for example, 64 + 1 = 65.

Source: RFC4253 error code + 64

65	Host not allowed to connect
66	Protocol error
67	Key exchange failed
68	Host authentication failed
69	MAC error
70	Compression error (not used in SSH2)
71	Service not available
72	Protocol version not supported
73	Host key not verifiable
74	Connection lost
75	Disconnected by application
76	Too many connections
77	Cancelled by user
78	No more auth methods available
79	Illegal user name

Exit Codes

You can display an exit code by typing echo $? after executing an SSH, SCP, or SFTP command.

Attachmate-defined SCP/SFTP Exit Codes

0	Success
1	Undetermined error in file copy
3	Destination is not directory, but it should be
4	Connecting to host failed
5	Connection lost for some reason
6	File does not exist
7	No permission to access file
8	Undetermined error from sshfilexfer
9	File transfer protocol mismatch
255	Error occurred in SSH

Related Technical Notes

2285	Secure Shell (SSH, SCP, and SFTP) Return Codes in Windows