How to use SSHFS (Secure Shell Filesystem)

This article describes how to connect to your XauZit Cloud account securely using SSHFS (Secure Shell Filesystem).

What is SSHFS?

The Secure Shell Filesystem (SSHFS) provides a convenient way to access remote files and directories. Using an SSHFS connection, you can browse, access, and modify files and directories on your XauZit Cloud account as if they were stored on your local computer.

As its name implies, SSHFS uses SSH (Secure Shell) to communicate with the server, so all connections are encrypted and secure.

Configuring SSHFS

To set up an SSHFS connection on your computer, follow the appropriate procedure below for your computer’s operating system.

Windows operating systems

The Win-sshfs application enables you to configure and use SSHFS connections on computers running Microsoft Windows. To use Win-sshfs, you must download and install the following components (some of these may be installed on your system already):

• .NET Framework 4.0
• Dokan Library
• Win-sshfs: The Win-sshfs application includes Sshfs Manager, an application that enables to you to easily set up and use SSHFS connections.

Opening an SSHFS connection

After you install the components listed above, you are ready to set up an SSHFS connection to your XauZit Cloud account. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Sshfs Manager.
2. Click Add.
3. In the Drive Name text box, type a name for the connection. The name can be anything you want.
4. In the Host text box, type your site’s domain name (for example, example.com).

5. In the Port list box, type 7822.

6. In the Username text box, type your XauZit Cloud account username.
7. In the Authentication method list box, select Password.

8. In the Password text box, type your XauZit Cloud account password.
9. In the Directory list box, type a single period (.).
10. In the Drive Letter list box, select the letter that you want to assign to the mounted drive.
11. If you want Win-sshfs to connect to the account automatically every time you log in, select the Mount at login check box.
12. Click Save. Sshfs Manager saves the connection information.
13. Click Mount. Win-sshfs tries to open a connection to the server:
    • If the connection is successful, the Mount button changes to Unmount. Use Windows Explorer or My Computer to open the drive that you specified in step 10. You can browse your XauZit Cloud account and work with the remote files as if they are stored on your local computer.
    • If the connection is unsuccessful, Sshfs Manager displays an error message. Check the settings that you provided in steps 4 to 10, and then try again.
14. To close the SSHFS connection when you are done, click Unmount in the Sshfs Manager.

Mac OS X

To set up and use SSHFS connections on Apple Mac OS X, you must install the following components:

• FUSE for OS X
• SSHFS

Installing FUSE for OS X

To install FUSE for OS X, follow these steps:

1. Use your web browser to go to https://osxfuse.github.io.
2. Under Stable Releases, download and save the OSXFUSE 2.7.0 file on your computer.

3. Double-click the osxfuse-2.7.0.dmg file. The FUSE for OS X dialog box appears.
4. Double-click Install OSXFUSE 2.7.pkg.
5. Accept the default values by clicking Continue.
6. Click Install, and then type your password. When the installation is finished, The installation was successful appears.

Installing SSHFS

To install SSHFS, follow these steps:

1. Use your web browser to go to https://osxfuse.github.io.
2. Under Stable Releases, download and save the SSHFS 2.5.0 file on your computer.

3. Double-click the sshfs-2.5.0.pkg file. The Install SSHFS 2.5.0 dialog box appears.
4. Accept the default values by clicking Continue.
5. Type your password when you are prompted to do so. When the installation is finished, The installation was successful appears.

Opening an SSHFS connection

After you install OSX Fuse and SSHFS, you are ready to open a connection to your XauZit Cloud account. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open a terminal window. To do this, click Applications, click Utilities, and then click Terminal.
2. At the command prompt, create a directory where you can mount the remote filesystem. In this procedure, we’ll use a directory path named mnt/a2 in the user’s home directory:

mkdir -p ~/mnt/a2

3. To open an SSHFS connection to your XauZit Cloud account, type the following command. Replace username with your XauZit Cloud username, and replace example.com with your site’s domain name:

sshfs -p 7822 username@example.com:/home/username~/mnt/a2

4. Type your password when you are prompted to do so.

5. Open the directory that you created in step 2 (in our example, ~/mnt/a2) using the command line or the OS X Finder. You can browse your XauZit Cloud account and work with the remote files as if they are stored on your local computer.
6. To unmount the SSHFS connection, right-click the volume name in the Finder, and then click Eject.