Symptoms
Using the Transfer Tool in WHM, you may receive the following error where IPADDRESS is the IP address of the remote server:
The remote basic credential check failed due to an error (The system failed
to escalate privileges to root on “IPADDRESS” with “sudo” or “su” because of
an error: Failed to escalate to root)
Description
If you select User under Login in the Authentication section of the Transfer Tool, the remote user must be able to obtain root-level privileges with the su or sudo commands on the remote server.
Workaround
Option 1: Ensure the user can obtain root-level privileges with the su or sudo commands on the remote server. If the user is unable to obtain root-level privileges with the su or sudo commands, we would recommend consulting with your server/system administrator about how to create sudo users. Information on creating a sudo user can be found here: How to create sudo users.
Option 2: If you selected su under Root Escalation Method, ensure the root password is input correctly in the Root Password field.
Option 3: Use root instead of a different user if root SSH logins are allowed on the remote server.
You may find our documentation on Authentication in the Transfer Tool here.