Environment Tab (Login Dialog)
Environment tab allows user to configure WinSCP adaptation for particular server/environment.
More environmental options are available on subtabs:
- Directories (initial directory, directory cache)
- Recycle Bin
- SFTP (SFTP protocol specific/compatibility options)
- SCP/Shell (shell and SCP protocol specific/compatibility options)
Server Environment
Server EOL Characters
Use End-of-line characters to specify text file format used by the server. To allow text mode transfers, WinSCP needs to know the format of text file. Generally there is plenty of text file formats, almost every platform has it own format. WinSCP supports two most used formats, Unix and Windows. As most servers are run on Unix system, generally you may leave the default Unix format. If your server runs on Windows, select the Windows format. If you do not use text mode transfers, the option is not important for you.
With SFTP-4 and newer, the server tells itself what format it uses, so the configured option is not used.
UTF-8 Encoding for Filenames
Use UTF-8 encoding for filenames to configure if WinSCP should use UTF-8 (Unicode) encoding for filenames in communication with the server.
With default Auto value, WinSCP will try to autodetect if the server supports UTF-8. With SFTP protocol this means that UTF-8 will be used for protocol version 4 and newer, unless the server is known not to support UTF-8 (see note 1).
Set the option to On to force usage of UTF-8 (useful for servers using UTF-8 natively). Set the option to Off to unconditionally disable usage of UTF-8.
UTF-8 is not supported with SCP protocol.
Timezone Offset
The Timezone offset allows user to configure timezone difference of the server.
With SCP protocol the option is used
to counterweight time difference between
timestamp of remote file shown in directory listing and timestamp set on
downloaded file, and vice versa. The difference is caused by fact that during transfer scp
command usually uses UTC time format, while
ls command may display time in local (for server) time format. The time difference can be
negative. For example if the timestamps of remote files are two hours ahead of local files, set the
option to -2 hours. Read about other issues with timestamps.
The option is not available with SFTP protocol, as with it, the server must report all timestamps in UTC.
Daylight Saving Time
Some servers (mostly on Windows) adjust file timestamp with start of DST and some not (Unix). The option selects between the two approaches.
Change the option if timestamps of some files, either in directory listing or after transfer, are shifted by one hour. Note that the option must be set correctly before transferring the files. It does not make sense to try to use it to adjust the incorrect timestamp of already transferred file.
Use the third option Preserve remote timestamp, if you want to see exact non-adjusted remote timestamp in remote panel. Drawback is that with the option selected, the synchronization functions will not work.
Read about other issues with timestamps.
Unix/Windows Presets
Use Unix or Windows buttons to set the environment settings to values typical for a server running on these platforms.
Other Settings
Use link Recycle bin to reveal Recycle bin tab.