Deploying SFTPGo as an Azure Storage SFTP Alternative on Linux
Azure Storage SFTP is Microsoft's managed file transfer service on top of Azure Blob Storage, convenient, but billed continuously per endpoint (roughly $0.30/hour, ~$220/month) and tied to Azure AD. SFTPGo is an open-source file transfer server offering SFTP, FTP/S, and WebDAV with pluggable storage backends (local disk, Azure Blob, S3-compatible, GCS) and no per-endpoint charge. This guide deploys SFTPGo with Docker Compose and Traefik, sets up user auth (password + SSH key + 2FA), connects S3-compatible object storage, and covers the migration path from Azure Storage SFTP. By the end, you'll have a self-hosted file transfer server with the same capabilities at zero endpoint cost. Azure Storage SFTP → SFTPGo Mapping Azure Storage SFTP SFTPGo Equivalent Notes SFTP Endpoint SFTPGo SFTP Server Configurable port, default 2022 Azure Blob Storage Azure Blob backend Native support; point at the same container, no migration needed Azure AD Authentication LDAP/OIDC plugin External identity provider via plugin Local Users Web UI / REST API user management Hierarchical Namespace Virtual directories No HNS requirement Azure Monitor Built-in logging + webhooks/syslog Prerequisite: Linux server with Docker + Compose, a DNS A record for your domain, and (if migrating) an existing Azure Storage account with SFTP enabled plus the Azure CLI installed locally. Deploy with Docker Compose 1. Create the project directories: $ mkdir -p ~/sftpgo/ { data,config } $ cd ~/sftpgo 2. Create the environment file: $ nano .env DOMAIN = sftp.example.com LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL = admin@example.com 3. Create the Compose manifest: $ nano docker-compose.yml services : traefik : image : traefik:v3.6 container_name : traefik command : - " --providers.docker=true" - " --providers.docker.exposedbydefault=false" - " --entrypoints.web.address=:80" - " --entrypoints.websecure.address=:443" - " --entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entrypoint.to=websecure" - " --certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.httpchallenge=tr