I'm using C++ with libcurl to do SFTP/FTPS transfers. Before uploading a file, I need to check if the file exists without actually downloading it. If the file doesn't exist, I run into the following problems: //set up curlhandle for the public/private keys and whatever else first. curl_easy_setopt(CurlHandle, CURLOPT_URL, "sftp://user@pass:host/nonexistent-file"); curl_easy_setopt(CurlHandle, CURLOPT_NOBODY, 1); curl_easy_setopt(CurlHandle, CURLOPT_FILETIME, 1); int result = curl_easy_perform(CurlHandle); //result is CURLE_OK, not CURLE_REMOTE_FILE_NOT_FOUND //using curl_easy_getinfo to get the file time will return -1 for filetime, regardless //if the file is there or not. If I don't use CURLOPT_NOBODY, it works, I get CURLE_REMOTE_FILE_NOT_FOUND. However, if the file does exist, it gets downloaded, which wastes time for me, since I just want to know if it's there or not. Any other techniques/options I'm missing? Note that it should work for ftps as well. Edit: This error occurs with sftp. With FTPS/FTP I get CURLE_FTP_COULDNT_RETR_FILE, which I can work with.