Use subprocess to send a password

python subprocess sftp
The Jug picture The Jug · Mar 5, 2010 · Viewed 47.7k times · Source

I'm attempting to use the python subprocess module to log in to a secure ftp site and then grab a file. However I keep getting hung up on just trying to send the password when it is requested. I so far have the following code:

from subprocess import Popen, PIPE

proc = Popen(['sftp','user@server', 'stop'], stdin=PIPE)
proc.communicate('password')

This still stops at the password prompt. If I enter the password manually it then goes to the ftp site and then enters the password on the command line. I've seen people suggest using pexpect but long story short I need a standard library solution. Is there anyway with subprocess and/or any other stdlib? What am I forgetting above?

Answer

Aaron Digulla picture Aaron Digulla · Mar 5, 2010

Try

proc.stdin.write('yourPassword\n')
proc.stdin.flush()

That should work.

What you describe sounds like stdin=None where the child process inherits the stdin of the parent (your Python program).

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