$network_debug_level_real = 1; my $network_server = "localhost"; my $network_server_port = 22; my $network_username = "some_valid_user"; my $network_password = "some_valid_password"; my $network_connection_p; my %ssh_config = ( port => $network_server_port, debug => $network_debug_level_real, ); my %sftp_config = ( user => $network_username, password => $network_password, debug => $network_debug_level_real, ssh_args => \%ssh_config, ); print "before connection\n"; $network_connection = Net::SFTP->new($network_server, %sftp_config ); print "after connection\n";\n"; # This never run's the program shell's out