First steps

Most problems fall into a few groups: the network, the server, your settings, or linscp itself. These checks tell you which one you face.

Checklist

1. Read the whole message. Below the main text, error dialogs often show a box with further lines, including the server’s own reply. That reply is usually the most useful part. Look it up in error messages.

2. Update linscp. Use Help › Check for Updates, or compare Help › About with the newest release on GitHub. Your problem may already be fixed.

3. Try another client with the same protocol. For SFTP and SCP, run ssh alice@example.com or sftp alice@example.com in a terminal. For FTP, try curl ftp://example.com/ --user alice. If that fails too, the problem is the network or the server, not linscp.

4. Check the protocol and port. An SFTP site on an FTP-only server, or the other way round, fails in confusing ways. See choosing a protocol.

5. Rule out your own settings. Start linscp with empty, temporary settings and set up the site again by hand:

   linscp /ini=nul

   Nothing is read from or saved to your real configuration. If the problem goes away, an option in your configuration causes it.

6. Check whether it is specific to linscp. If you also have WinSCP on Windows, try the same site there. Mention the result when you ask for help.

Note

Help › Contents still opens WinSCP’s online documentation. Most of it applies, but this manual describes what linscp actually does on Linux and Windows.

Record a session log

A session log shows what linscp and the server said to each other. You need one to solve most connection and transfer problems, and maintainers ask for it in bug reports.

In the GUI

1. Open Options › Preferences › Logging. In the Site Manager you can reach the same page from the Advanced button’s menu, Logging….
2. Check Enable session logging on level: and choose Normal. Choose Debug 1 or Debug 2 only if someone asks for it.
3. Set Log path to a file you can find, such as /home/alice/linscp.log.
4. Reproduce the problem, then open the file.

Leave Log passwords and other sensitive information unchecked.

In linscp-cli

Add /log to the command line:

linscp-cli /log=/home/alice/linscp.log /loglevel=1 /script=/home/alice/upload.txt

/loglevel raises the detail; leave it out for a normal log. An XML log (/xmllog) records results for scripts but is less useful for diagnosing a problem.

Where to go next

• Cannot connect or log in: connection and login problems.
• A specific error text: error messages and status codes.
• Still stuck: getting help and reporting bugs.
• More logging options: logging.