MINA SFTP Migration from JSch

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Users migrating from the JSch-based sftp component can switch by changing only the URI scheme from sftp:// to mina-sftp://:

// Before (JSch)
from("sftp://user@host/path?password=secret").to("file:local");

// After (MINA SSHD)
from("mina-sftp://user@host/path?password=secret").to("file:local");

All standard configuration options remain the same for supported features.

Features Not Supported

The following JSch features are not supported by mina-sftp:

  • Proxy support: HTTP proxy, SOCKS4, SOCKS5 proxy connections

  • GSSAPI/Kerberos authentication

If you require these features, continue using the JSch-based sftp component. Configuring an unsupported feature throws a clear error message.

Behavioral Differences

Feature mina-sftp (Apache MINA SSHD) sftp (JSch)

License

Apache License 2.0

BSD-style license

Compression

Built-in, no extra JARs

Requires jsch-zlib JAR

Ciphers

Modern (ChaCha20-Poly1305, AES-GCM); validates before connection

Limited; errors at connection time

Key Exchange

Modern (Curve25519, ECDH); validates before connection

Limited; uses JSch.setConfig()

Server Host Keys

Modern (Ed25519, RSA-SHA2, ECDSA); validates before connection

Limited; uses session.setConfig()

Known Hosts Port Matching

Strict OpenSSH: hostname = port 22 only; [hostname]:port for non-standard

Lenient: hostname matches any port

serverAliveCountMax=0

Fire-and-forget: heartbeats sent, never terminates

Keep-alive disabled

Host Key Verification

MINA SSHD ServerKeyVerifier with certificate support

JSch HostKeyRepository

Proxy Support

Not supported

HTTP, SOCKS4, SOCKS5

GSSAPI/Kerberos

Not supported

Supported

Logging

SLF4J natively; configure via log4j/logback

Requires loggingLevel parameter to bridge

Known Hosts Port Matching

The mina-sftp component follows strict OpenSSH semantics: hostname matches port 22 only, while [hostname]:port matches non-standard ports.

If your known_hosts contains myserver.example.com ssh-rsa AAAA…​: * sftp: matches on any port * mina-sftp: matches on port 22 only

For non-standard ports, use: [myserver.example.com]:2222 ssh-rsa AAAA…​

Migration Checklist

  1. URI Scheme: Change sftp:// to mina-sftp://

  2. Proxy Usage: If using proxy, stay with sftp

  3. Kerberos/GSSAPI: If using GSSAPI, stay with sftp

  4. Known Hosts on Non-Standard Ports: Update entries to [hostname]:port format

  5. serverAliveCountMax: If using =0, note behavioral difference

  6. Compression: Remove manual zlib JAR additions

  7. Deprecated Parameters: Remove loggingLevel, serverMessageLoggingLevel, existDirCheckUsingLs (see Deprecated JSch Parameters)

  8. Logging: Configure via log4j/logback instead of URI parameters (see Logging Configuration)

  9. Test Authentication: Verify public key and password work correctly

  10. Test Host Key Verification: Verify known_hosts entries match

Deprecated JSch Parameters

These JSch parameters are accepted for backward compatibility but ignored with a deprecation warning:

Parameter Description Recommendation

existDirCheckUsingLs

JSch workaround for Windows. MINA SSHD uses stat().

Remove from URI

jschLoggingLevel

Controlled JSch logging verbosity.

Configure via log4j/logback

serverMessageLoggingLevel

Controlled SSH server message logging.

Configure via log4j/logback

 
// Before (sftp with JSch-specific parameters)
from("sftp://user@host/path?existDirCheckUsingLs=false&jschLoggingLevel=WARN")

// After (mina-sftp) - remove JSch-specific parameters
from("mina-sftp://user@host/path")

Logging Configuration

Apache MINA SSHD uses SLF4J natively — no logging parameters needed in the URI. Configure your logging framework directly:

# log4j.properties - common configurations
log4j.logger.org.apache.sshd=WARN           # production
log4j.logger.org.apache.sshd.client=DEBUG    # debug connections
log4j.logger.org.apache.sshd.client.auth=DEBUG  # debug authentication
log4j.logger.org.apache.sshd.sftp=DEBUG      # debug file transfers
<!-- logback.xml -->
<configuration>
    <logger name="org.apache.sshd" level="WARN"/>
    <logger name="org.apache.sshd.client.auth" level="DEBUG"/>
    <logger name="org.apache.sshd.sftp" level="DEBUG"/>
</configuration>
Scenario Logger

Reduce production noise

org.apache.sshd=WARN

Debug connections

org.apache.sshd.client=DEBUG

Debug authentication

org.apache.sshd.client.auth=DEBUG

Debug file transfers

org.apache.sshd.sftp=DEBUG

Debug host key verification

org.apache.sshd.client.keyverifier=DEBUG
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