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After your app is built, its file system is read-only. This means that the only way you can edit your app’s code is through Git. However, you can transfer files to and from your built app without using Git. To do so, you need to configure mounts or use an SSH client. Mounts let you set up directories that remain writable after the build is complete. You can then transfer files directly to and from mounts inside your app with a single command via the Upsun CLI. Alternatively, you can transfer files to and from your built app using an SSH client such as scp or rsync.

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Transfer files using the CLI

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View the mounts inside your app

Before you start transferring files, you may want to view a list of all the mounts inside your app. To do so, run the following command: 
upsun mounts
The output is similar to the following: 
Mounts on abcdefgh1234567-main-abcd123--app@ssh.eu.upsun.com:
+-------------------------+----------------------+
| Mount path              | Definition           |
+-------------------------+----------------------+
| web/sites/default/files | source: storage      |
|                         | source_path: files   |
| private                 | source: storage      |
|                         | source_path: private |
| tmp                     | source: tmp          |
|                         | source_path: temp    |
+-------------------------+----------------------+

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Transfer a file to a mount

To transfer a file to a mount using the CLI, you can use the mount:upload command. For example, to upload the files contained in the local private directory to the private mount, run the following command: 
upsun mount:upload --mount private --source ./private
You get the following output: 
Uploading files from ./private to the remote mount private

Are you sure you want to continue? [Y/n]

  sending incremental file list
  example.sh

  sent 2.35K bytes  received 20 bytes  1.58K bytes/sec
  total size is 1.77M  speedup is 745.09

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Transfer a file from a mount

To transfer a file from a mount using the CLI, you can use the mount:download command. For example, to download a file from the private mount to your local private directory, run the following command: 
upsun mount:download --mount private --target ./private
You get the following output: 
Downloading files from the remote mount private to ./private

Are you sure you want to continue? [Y/n]

  receiving incremental file list
  example.sh

  sent 2.35K bytes  received 20 bytes  1.58K bytes/sec
  total size is 1.77M  speedup is 745.09

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Transfer files using an SSH client

Another way to transfer files to and from your built app is to use an SSH client such as scp, rsync, or sftp.

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scp

You can use scp to copy files to and from a remote environment. For example, to download a diagram.png file from the web/uploads directory (relative to the app root), run the following command: 
scp "$(upsun ssh --pipe)":web/uploads/diagram.png .
The diagram.png file is copied to the current local directory. To copy files from your local directory to the Upsun environment, reverse the order of the parameters: 
scp diagram.png "$(upsun ssh --pipe)":web/uploads
For other options, see the scp documentation.

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rsync

You can use rsync to copy files to and from a remote environment. For example, to copy all the files in the web/uploads directory on the remote environment to the local uploads directory, run the following command: 
rsync -azP "$(upsun ssh --pipe)":web/uploads/ ./uploads/
To copy files from your local directory to the Upsun environment, reverse the order of the parameters: 
rsync -azP uploads/ "$(upsun ssh --pipe)":web/uploads/
Note that rsync is very sensitive about trailing / characters. If you’re using UTF-8 encoded files on macOS, add the --iconv=utf-8-mac,utf-8 flag to your rsync call. For more options, consult the rsync documentation.

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sftp

You can use sftp to copy files to and from a remote environment.
Upsun supports sftp, but the following limitations apply:
  • You can only create sftp accounts with an existing Upsun user and an SSH key. Custom users and passwords aren’t supported.
  • sftp access cannot be limited to a specific directory. Instead, access is given to the whole application directory and its mounts.

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Open an sftp connection

Run the following command: 
sftp "$(upsun ssh --pipe)"
When prompted, select the project and environment you want to connect to. The sftp connection is open once the sftp> prompt is displayed in your terminal.

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Download a file

Say you want to download a diagram.png file from the web/uploads directory (relative to the app root). To do so, run the following command: 
sftp> get web/uploads/diagram.png
The diagram.png file is copied to the current local directory.

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Upload a file

Say you want to upload a diagram.png file to the web/uploads directory (relative to the app root). To do so, run the following command: 
sftp> put diagram.png web/uploads
For other options, see the sftp documentation.
Last modified on March 11, 2026