Use the Okta Privileged Access client

Every Okta Privileged Access client command uses the syntax:

sft [global options] command [command options] [arguments...]

Global options

You can use the following options with any client command:

-h, --help: Displays help.
-v, --version: Displays version.

Topics

Client commands
Selectors
Client configuration
Environment variables

Client commands

Command	Description	Options
sft list-checked-out-resources Checkout is automatically applied when sft ssh and sft rdp commands are used.	List checkout resources.	--team {value}: Uses the specified team. --instance {value}: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --output, -o: Formats result in the specified format. Available options include: default, JSON, or describe. --resource-type {value}: Use this to display only resources of the specified type, along with other resource-specific details. --include-pending-checkin: Use this to include checked out resources that are in the checkin process.
sft checkin	Check in a resource.	--team {value}: Uses the specified team. --instance {value}: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --resource-id {value}: The UUID or ORN of the resource to check in. --resource-type {value}: The type of resource to check in. This field is required. --force: Use this to check in resources checked out by other users.
sft config	Gets and sets client configuration options. See Configure the client.	--config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. --append: Adds the specified value to an array.
sft dash	Opens your team's dashboard in your browser.	--team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file.
sft device-info	Shows your client's device info as JSON.	-
sft enroll	Adds your new client to your client inventory on the Okta Privileged Access platform.	--default: Sets a new default team. (default: true) --url: Sets the URL used to access an Okta Privileged Access instance. --team: Uses the specified team. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. --force: Enrolls the client even if a duplicate exists (default: false)
sft fleet enrolls	Silently enroll clients multiple clients within a fleet. See Silently enroll the Okta Privileged Access client.	--default: Set a new team as the default. (default: true) --token: Enroll the client with the specified token. --token-file: Enroll the client using a secret token stored in the specified file.
sft help	Shows a list of commands or help for one command.	-
sft list-accounts	Lists the accounts that this client is configured to use.	--config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. -l, --selector: Filters results by the specified selector (label query). See Selectors. --output, -o: Formats result in the specified format. Available options include: default, json, or describe. --columns: Displays the specified column names in the output. Column names should be lowercase and collected in a comma-delimited list.
sft list-projects	Lists available projects for the team.	--team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. -l, --selector: Filters results by the specified selector (label query). See Selectors. --output, -o: Formats result in the specified format. Available options include: default, json, or describe. --columns: Displays the specified column names in the output. Column names should be lowercase and collected in a comma-delimited list.
sft list-servers	Lists the servers available in the current team.	--team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. -l, --selector: Filters results by the specified selector (label query). See Selectors. -p, --project: Filters results by the specified project name. --output, -o: Formats result in the specified format. Available options include: default, json, or describe. --columns: Displays the specified column names in the output. The labels appear only if the column name is passed in for the columns option. For example, sft list-servers --column <ID>, <hostname>, <labels>. Column names should be lowercase and collected in a comma-delimited list.
sft list-servers-rjson	Lists the servers available in the current team in an RJSON format. You can save this output to a file and used in Royal TSX to create a dynamic folder. See Configure Royal TSX for Okta Privileged Access.	--team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. -l, --selector: Filters results by the specified selector (label query). See Selectors. -p, --project: Filters results by the specified project name. -f, --filename: Specify a path to store the file output.
sft login	If logged out of your client's current team, creates a session, authenticating with your team's Identity Provider. An active, authorized client session allows the Okta Privileged Access client to request credentials in the background as needed.	--team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file.
sft logout	Logs out from the current session.	--team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file.
sft proxycommand	Used with OpenSSH ProxyCommand to enable transparent use of sft with ssh, scp, rsync, ftp, and so on.	--team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. --via, --bastion: Connects to the target through the specified Secure Shell bastion. --config: Deprecated. Use sft ssh-config instead.
sft rdp	Connects through RDP to a target passed as an argument.	--via, --bastion: Connects to the target through the specified SSH bastion. --team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. --share: Specify the absolute path to a directory to be shared with the target. --share argument only works with the MacFreeRDP client on macOS.
sft register-url-handler	(Windows only) Opens the ScaleFT application when a user clicks the Connect button on the My Servers page. For this to work correctly, you must update the Windows Registry with the following entry: Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ScaleFTProtocolHandler\shell\open\command. The ScaleFT application can't be launched by the Connect button if the corresponding entry is missing from the Windows Registry.	-
sft resolve	Resolves a single-server matching the specified hostname or instance-details.	--q, --quiet: Causes only fatal warnings to output to stderr. --team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file.
sft secrets	Lists all available secrets commands.	-
sft secrets list	Lists all top-level secret folders and secrets.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. You must provide both --project and --resource-group parameters or exclude them completely. --path: Uses the specified path.
sft secrets create	Creates a secret.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path. --key {key}: Adds specified key. --value {value}: Adds specified value. --name {name}: The name for the new secret . --description {description}: (Optional) A description of this secret.
sft secrets create-folder	Creates a secret folder.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path. --name {name}: The name for the new secret folder. --description {description}: (Optional) A description of this secret folder.
sft secrets describe	Shows metadata about the secret at path.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path. --name {name}: The name of the secret.
sft secrets describe-folder	Shows metadata about the secret folder at path.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path. --name {name}: The name of the folder.
sft update-secret	Updates a secret’s values. Use update-secret-metadata to update a secret’s name or description.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path. --name {name}: The name for the new secret. --key {key}: Key for a new value. --value {value}: The new value for the previously mentioned key.
sft secrets delete	Deletes the specified secret.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path. --name {name}: The name for the new secret.
sft secrets delete-folder	Deletes the specified secret folder. All the contents in that folder is also deleted.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path.
sft secrets reveal	Displays the key names and secret value fields.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path. --name {name}: The name for the new secret. --key {key}: (Optional) Limit the response to only the specified keys.
secrets update-secret-metadata	Updates the name or description of a secret.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path. --name {name}: The name of the secret. --new-name {name}: (Optional) The new name for the secret. --description {description}: (Optional) A description of the secret. If this is excluded, the description isn't updated.
secrets update-folder-metadata	Updates the name or description of a secret folder.	--resource-group {resource group}: Uses the specified resource group. --project {project}: Uses the specified resource group. --path: Uses the specified path --new-name {name}: The new name for the secret folder --description {description}: (Optional) A description of this folder. If this is excluded, the description isn't updated.
sft session-logs verify	Verify the integrity of a specified session log against the Okta Privileged Access gateway signing key registered with Okta Privileged Access. Log files without valid signatures may be inaccurate or corrupted by an attacker.	--stdin: Returns session data from stdin, instead of from a session log file.
sft session-logs export	Export session logs to a particular format. By default, logs are exported to JSON format. Session logs are also verified during the export process. Log files without valid signatures may be inaccurate or corrupted by an attacker.	--stdin: Returns session data from stdin, instead of from a session log file. --insecure: Stops the client from verifying the integrity of the session log file --format: Exports log in a specific format. Available options include: json or asciinema --output: Stores the exported logs in the specified file instead of stdout
sft ssh	Connects through Secure Shell to a target passed as an argument. Generally, Okta Privileged Access works with ssh using OpenSSH ProxyCommand integration. The sft ssh command is provided for ssh support in environments or contexts where OpenSSH isn't available. The command can also be used when you want to explicitly pass Okta Privileged Access-specific options such as --via.	--via, --bastion: Uses the specified SSH bastion host to connect to the target. --team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. -L, --local-port-forward: Forwards the specified local port to a remote address. -R, --remote-port-forward: Forwards the specified remote listener to a local address. --command: Executes the specified command through SSH.
sft ssh-config	Prints an OpenSSH configuration block suitable for use in your ~/.ssh/config file, which enables your local ssh binary to use Okta Privileged Access authentication. This SSH configuration is used only when your client has a currently active and authorized session.	--team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --account: Uses the specified account. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. --via, --bastion: Connects to the target through the specified SSH bastion.
sft support collect	Collect local diagnostic information for Okta Support.	-
sft support submit	Submit diagnostic information for Okta Support.	-
sft unenroll	Removes the currently active client from your client inventory in the Okta Privileged Access platform.	-y, --yes: Uses the specified team. --team: Uses the specified team. --instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file. --all: Unenroll all local clients.
sft use	Sets an enrolled team as the current default for use in your current session.	--instance: Uses the specified instance of the Okta Privileged Access platform. --config-file: Uses the specified configuration file.

Selectors

-l, --selector: The selector (label query) to filter on.

Commands that take a selector as an optional argument can filter their results based on an arbitrary selector query.

The selector syntax is based on Kubernetes label queries. See Labels and Selectors.

Example:

sft list-servers -l os_type=windows,project_name=Demo

The example uses a selector to filter the list of servers you have access to. It returns a list of Windows servers that are enrolled in the demo project.

Client configuration

You can view or set configuration options with the sft config command.

No configuration file exists when the Okta Privileged Access client is installed. The configuration file is created when you set your first configuration option.

Default settings are used until you explicitly set a configuration value. The defaults provided for the Okta Privileged Access client are intended to provide the most security and ease of use for the most common situations. Aside from personal preferences, such as the setting for rdp.screensize, you may not need to set any client configurations at all.

Okta Privileged Access client configurations are grouped into sections. Currently these sections include rdp, ssh, ssh_agent, service_auth, and update.

View your configuration

sft config: Display your current configurations.
sft config [section.key]: View the current value of a specific configuration indicated by section.key

Set a configuration value

You can set a configuration value with the command syntax: sft config [section.key] [value].

RDP configuration options

Key	Description	Examples
rdp.screensize	Set this to a string value, such as 1024x768 that describes your preferred RDP window size.	sft config rdp.screensize 800x600 sft config rdp.screensize 1024x768
rdp.fullscreen	Set this to true to have RDP sessions open in fullscreen mode. When set to true, the value of rdp.screensize is ignored.	sft config rdp.fullscreen true sft config rdp.fullscreen false
rdp.client	(macOS only) Set this to your preferred RDP client, either royaltsx for Royal TSX, or macfreerdp for MacFreeRDP. If this option isn't set, Okta Privileged Access attempts to use Royal TSX, and then MacFreeRDP if Royal TSX is unavailable.	sft config rdp.client royaltsx sft config rdp.client macfreerdp

SSH configuration options

Key	Description	Examples
ssh.save_privatekey_passwords	If set to true, the Okta Privileged Access client stores any passphrases entered by the user in the workstation's local cryptographic store.	sft config ssh.save_privatekey_passwords true sft config ssh.save_privatekey_passwords false
ssh.port_forward_method	Set this to netcat to have Okta Privileged Access remotely execute netcat (nc) as a means of port forwarding, rather than using the default native SSH port forwarding.	sft config ssh.port_forward_method netcat sft config ssh.port_forward_method native
ssh.insecure_forward_agent This feature isn't compatible with the Windows client.	Set this to host to set the ForwardAgent when executing SSH commands. SSH credentials issued by Okta Privileged Access aren't added to the ssh-agent. This option is used for hosts configured to accept externally managed credentials such as SSH public keys not managed by Okta Privileged Access. Not setting this option or setting it to the value none causes Okta Privileged Access to not forward the SSH agent.	sft config ssh.insecure_forward_agent host sft config ssh.insecure_forward_agent none

Key

Description

Examples

ssh.save_privatekey_passwords

If set to true, the Okta Privileged Access client stores any passphrases entered by the user in the workstation's local cryptographic store.

sft config ssh.save_privatekey_passwords true sft config ssh.save_privatekey_passwords false

ssh.port_forward_method

Set this to netcat to have Okta Privileged Access remotely execute netcat (nc) as a means of port forwarding, rather than using the default native SSH port forwarding.

sft config ssh.port_forward_method netcat sft config ssh.port_forward_method native

ssh.insecure_forward_agent

This feature isn't compatible with the Windows client.

Set this to host to set the ForwardAgent when executing SSH commands. SSH credentials issued by Okta Privileged Access aren't added to the ssh-agent. This option is used for hosts configured to accept externally managed credentials such as SSH public keys not managed by Okta Privileged Access.

Not setting this option or setting it to the value none causes Okta Privileged Access to not forward the SSH agent.

sft config ssh.insecure_forward_agent host sft config ssh.insecure_forward_agent none

SSH agent configuration options

Key	Description	Examples
ssh_agent.enable	If set to true, the Okta Privileged Access client uses an SSH agent when authenticating.	sft config ssh_agent.enable true sft config ssh_agent.enable false
ssh_agent.keys	Set this to a JSON array of one or more paths to SSH private keys to load into the SSH agent. You can append values to this list by using the --append flag. Tip: When writing a JSON literal in Windows PowerShell, escape inner quotes; for example: sft config ssh_agent.keys '[\"C:\\Users\\alice\\.ssh\\id_rsa\"]'	sft config ssh_agent.keys '["/Users/alice/.ssh/id_rsa"]' sft config ssh_agent.keys --append /Users/alice.ssh/id_rsa sft config ssh_agent.keys '[]'

Key

Description

Examples

ssh_agent.enable

If set to true, the Okta Privileged Access client uses an SSH agent when authenticating.

sft config ssh_agent.enable true sft config ssh_agent.enable false

ssh_agent.keys

Set this to a JSON array of one or more paths to SSH private keys to load into the SSH agent. You can append values to this list by using the --append flag.

Tip: When writing a JSON literal in Windows PowerShell, escape inner quotes; for example:

sft config ssh_agent.keys '[\"C:\\Users\\alice\\.ssh\\id_rsa\"]'

sft config ssh_agent.keys '["/Users/alice/.ssh/id_rsa"]' sft config ssh_agent.keys --append /Users/alice.ssh/id_rsa sft config ssh_agent.keys '[]'

Network configuration options

Key	Description	Examples
network.forward_proxy	If you configure this option, the Okta Privileged Access client uses the specified HTTP or HTTPS URL as an HTTP tunnel.	sft config network.forward_proxy https://your-proxy.example.com:3141
network.tls_use_bundled_cas	If set to true, the Okta Privileged Access client uses a bundled CA certificate list for TLS validation. Similarly, if set to false, the client uses the operating system's CA list. This option is enabled by default. Okta recommends not to disable it, as certain operating systems may have issues with CA lists and the performance may be worse than using bundled CA certificate lists.	sft config network.tls_use_bundled_cas true sft config network.tls_use_bundled_cas false

Miscellaneous configuration options

Key	Description	Examples
service_auth.enable	If set to true, the Okta Privileged Access client supports authentication for service users. See Service users.	sft config service_auth.enable true sft config service_auth.enable false
update.release_channel	The Okta Privileged Access client defaults to the stable update channel, but you can opt into receiving more frequent releases by setting this option to use the test update channel.	sft config update.release_channel test sft config update.release_channel stable
client.timeout_seconds	Defines the maximum time that the client waits for a response from a server before resending the request. If this option is unset or set to 0, the client uses the default value of 300 seconds. If this option is set to a negative value, the timeout is disabled.	sft config client.timeout_seconds 60 sft config client.timeout_seconds -1

Key

Description

Examples

service_auth.enable

If set to true, the Okta Privileged Access client supports authentication for service users. See Service users.

sft config service_auth.enable true sft config service_auth.enable false

update.release_channel

The Okta Privileged Access client defaults to the stable update channel, but you can opt into receiving more frequent releases by setting this option to use the test update channel.

sft config update.release_channel test sft config update.release_channel stable

client.timeout_seconds

Defines the maximum time that the client waits for a response from a server before resending the request.

If this option is unset or set to 0, the client uses the default value of 300 seconds.
If this option is set to a negative value, the timeout is disabled.

sft config client.timeout_seconds 60 sft config client.timeout_seconds -1

Environment variables

Variable	Description	Examples
SFT_DEBUG	When set, any command run prints internal logs and timing messages to `stderr`	SFT_DEBUG=1 sft list-servers
SFT_ALLOW_INSECURE_USERNAMES	When set, allows connections with usernames that include non-standard characters.	SFT_ALLOW_INSECURE_USERNAMES=1 sft ssh ...

Use the Okta Privileged Access client

Global options

Topics

Client commands

Selectors

Example:

Client configuration

View your configuration

Set a configuration value

RDP configuration options

SSH configuration options

SSH agent configuration options

Network configuration options

Miscellaneous configuration options

Environment variables

Related topics