PHP ActiveX

Resolve an Absolute Remote Path with SFTP RealPath

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.RealPath method, which asks the server to canonicalize a path and returns the resulting absolute remote path. The first argument is the original path and the second is an optional compose path (SFTP v5 or later); pass an empty string when no composition is needed.

Background: The server — not the client — owns the remote filesystem's layout, so path canonicalization must happen on the server. RealPath resolves ., .., and symbolic links into a single absolute path, which is the reliable way to learn the session's home directory (canonicalize .) or to turn a relative path into an absolute one before storing or displaying it. On SFTP v5 and later, the compose path can additionally join or override the original.

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<?php

$success = 0;

//  Demonstrates the SFtp.RealPath method, which asks the server to canonicalize a path and
//  returns the resulting absolute remote path.  The 1st argument is the original path and the
//  2nd is an optional compose path (SFTP v5+), which may be an empty string.

$sftp = new COM("Chilkat.SFtp");

//  Step 1: Connect the SSH transport.  Port 22 is the usual port.
$port = 22;
$success = $sftp->Connect('sftp.example.com',$port);
if ($success == 0) {
    print $sftp->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  Normally you would not hard-code the password in source.  You should instead obtain it
//  from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
$password = 'mySshPassword';

$success = $sftp->AuthenticatePw('mySshLogin',$password);
if ($success == 0) {
    print $sftp->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  Step 3: Open the SFTP subsystem.  This must be done after authentication and before any
//  file or directory operations.
$success = $sftp->InitializeSftp();
if ($success == 0) {
    print $sftp->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  Resolve "." to the absolute path of the session's default (home) directory.  No compose path
//  is needed, so the 2nd argument is an empty string.
$homeDir = $sftp->realPath('.','');
if ($sftp->LastMethodSuccess == 0) {
    print $sftp->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Home directory: ' . $homeDir . "\n";

//  Canonicalize a relative path with "..", resolving it to an absolute path.
$resolved = $sftp->realPath('subdir/../otherdir','');
if ($sftp->LastMethodSuccess == 0) {
    print $sftp->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Resolved path: ' . $resolved . "\n";

$sftp->Disconnect();

?>