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Connecting to Lyft's SFTP service for automatic syncing

Learn more about Lyft's Safe File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) service and how it offers a secure and scalable way to automatically manage your people, Expense Info, and reports easily.

In this article, we'll cover: 

How to connect to Lyft's SFTP service

Employee management systems with SFTP functionality, such as Oracle and Workday, can be easily connected to the Lyft Business Portal to use automatic syncing features.

Connect to Lyft's SFTP server in three simple steps:

Step 1: Generate your public SSH key

Think of this key like a digital password that keeps your connection secure. Your IT team will need to make this key. Here's how:

On Mac/Linux systems:

  1. Open the Terminal program
  2. Type this ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 and press 'Enter' 
  3. You can either create an optional passphrase (passcode) or decline to do so. However, if you choose to create a passphrase, you will have to remember it every time you connect to Lyft's SFTP server
  4. To open the folder with the public SSH key, type: open ~/.ssh/
  5. You will find the SSH key which you can use to access the Lyft Business Portal under the file name: id_rsa.pub

On Windows systems:

  1. Download and install PuTTY and PuTTYGen from this website: https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html
  2. Select 'RSA' as the type of key to generate
    image002.png
  3. Enter 4096 in the 'Number of bits in a generated key' field and click on ‘Generate’
  4. Follow PuTTY's instructions to create the key
  5. Click 'Save public key' and 'Save private key' to save both as a file on your computer

    Important: You'll use the private key on your computer and enter the public key into the Lyft Business Portal.

  6. Copy the contents of the 'Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys file' from PuTTY. Now, you can enter the copied public key into the Lyft Business Portal

Step 2: Add the Key to Lyft Business

  1. Copy the generated SSH key and log into the Lyft Business Portal
  2. Click 'Settings' from the left-hand sidebar and select 'Automation' 
  3. When you're ready, click 'Start setup'
  4. Paste the SSH key into the SSH textbox
  5. Enter the IT department's contact email for technical issues in the 'Technical Contact Email' field. If you don’t have an IT department, enter the email of someone who can best solve issues regarding the SFTP connection
  6. Click 'Enable SFTP syncing.' A green banner will appear confirming 'SFTP sync has been successfully enabled'

Step 3: Share Information with Lyft

After connecting, you'll see folders like these:

  • /users/ Put your employee list here. (Note: You might need to ask us to turn on People Sync first)
  • /users_logs/ This folder shows if your employee list updates worked correctly
  • /expensing/Put your expense information here
  • /reports/This is where you'll find automatic reports from Lyft. Don't put anything in this folder

Once connected, your organization will be enabled to use the following automatic sync products: People Sync, Expense Sync, and Reports Sync

Tips for a smooth setup

Step 1: Check your Firewall:

It is necessary for Lyft’s SFTP server to overcome your firewall to build a successful connection. If your firewall blocks the server, then you may see an error message stating: “Something went wrong. Please try again”.

If this occurs, you need to whitelist the static IP 3.225.63.165 for port 22. After that, follow the below steps to run a test and recheck if your organization’s firewall is still blocking Lyft’s SFTP server:

  1. Connect to host: sftp.lyft.net
  2. Connect to port: 22
     
    Run the following command line to connect: sftp -v -o "IdentitiesOnly yes" -F/dev/null -i <PRIVATE_KEY_FILE> <SFTP-username> @sftp.lyft.net

  3. Verify that the host key signature matches ssh-rsa SHA256:iwGSCokiIJOCp5L5Vi+9UVLR0ktLxNifI6kA89rB8UA

    If the tests have completed successfully, your firewall settings are all set for a secure connection!

Step 2: Use the right key type:

Lyft only accepts a specific type of key (RSA public key in OpenSSH format). Make sure you're using that type or you may see the error message: "SSH key must adhere to OpenSSH format"

See an example of a valid OpenSSH key below:

ssh-rsa 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 rsa-key-20201029

Step 3: Use correct SSH key when connecting to Lyft’s SFTP server

To establish a successful connection, make sure you connect to Lyft’s SFTP server using the private key that matches the public key entered in the Lyft Business Portal. Sending multiple keys can cause errors such as: 

  • FileZilla is unable to connect on a Mac
    To prevent FileZilla from using other keys, start the program in the Terminal App using the following command:
    SSH_AUTH_SOCK="" open /Applications/FileZilla.app
  • Socket connection closed
    Use this command to test whether you can successfully connect:
    sftp -v -o "IdentitiesOnly yes" -F/dev/null -i <PRIVATE_KEY_FILE> <SFTP-username> @sftp.lyft.net

If you are experiencing an issue that is not found in this article, please contact us for support.