SSHFS

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SSHFS

Mounting an SSHFS network, the sign-on displays the desktop icon illustrated
Developer(s)	Miklos Szeredi
Stable release	2.2 / 20 October 2008
Operating system	UNIX-like
Development status	Active
Type	Remote access
Website	http://fuse.sourceforge.net/sshfs.html

SSHFS (SSH Filesystem or Secure SHell Filesystem) is a file system client that may be used on operating systems for which an implementation of FUSE is available.^[1]

The client allows access to a remote file system where files and directories are available via SFTP.

The current implementation of SSHFS using FUSE is a rewrite of an earlier version. The rewrite was done by Miklos Szeredi, who also wrote FUSE.^[1]

Contents 1 Features 2 Approaches to SSHFS 3 Command line usage 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Features

SFTP provides secure file transfer and a secure remote file system. Whilst SFTP clients may transfer files and directories, the related file system may not be mounted locally using SFTP alone. Using SSHFS, a locally-mounted file system may be treated in the same way as other volumes (such as CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives and shared disks).

If the remote environment matches the requirements of the local application, then the end user may work with remote files and directories as if they are on a local volume. If the remote environment is a less than perfect match — if the server can not respond appropriately — then applications may respond in ways that are unpredictable or misleading.

Using ls with sshfs will sometimes not list the owner of a file correctly, although it is possible to map them manually.^[2][3]

For greater security the system can be configured by the service administrator as a jailed account, allowing the client to only see part of the file system.

For distributed remote file systems with multiple users, protocols such as Apple Filing Protocol, Network File System and Server Message Block are more often used. SSHFS is an alternative to those protocols only in situations where users are confident that files and directories will not be targeted for writing by another user, at the same time.

[edit] Approaches to SSHFS

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Darwin	Mac OS X: any one of	Windows	Linux + Other systems
sshfs for Darwin (Mac OS X)	MacFUSE + MacFusion (GUI, supported)	Dokan library + Dokan SSHFS	FUSE kernel module + SSHFS tools installed on local host
	MacFUSE + sshfs-static binary
	MacFUSE + sshfs.app (GUI, unsupported)
	Secure Remote Disk
	sshfs for Darwin (Mac OS X)

[edit] Command line usage

(not all commands are valid on all systems)

To log into remoteuser on the host remotehost and to mount the directory /path/to/remote_dir on the directory local_mountpoint, the following command can be used:^[1][2][4]

sshfs remoteuser@remotehost:/path/to/remote_dir local_mountpoint

The default remote directory is the remote user's home directory. The local mount point must be an empty directory that the remote files will be displayed in.^[1][4]

To unmount use the command

fusermount -u local_mountpoint

or simply

umount local_mountpoint

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Gvfs
• SSH file transfer protocol (SFTP)
• Secure copy (SCP)
• FileZilla, a Free Software utility for multiple platforms.
• Files transferred over shell protocol (FISH)

[edit] External links

• SSH Filesystem - official webpage.
• SSH File Transfer Protocol
• URI Scheme for SSH and SFTP
• SshfsGUI - graphical user interface for Linux.
• Google Releases FUSE for Mac OS X: MacFUSE
• Macfusion: a GUI for MacFUSE
• Dokan SSHFS for Windows
• NTFS-3G: Extended Attributes (highlights)