~ Basically, WinSCP on a terminal ~
Developed by Christian Visintin
Current version: 0.3.2 (24/01/2021)
TermSCP is basically a porting of WinSCP to terminal. So basically is a terminal utility with an TUI to connect to a remote server to retrieve and upload files and to interact with the local file system. It works both on Linux, MacOS, BSD and Windows and supports SFTP, SCP, FTP and FTPS.
It happens quite often to me, when using SCP at work to forget the path of a file on a remote machine, which forces me then to connect through SSH, gather the file path and finally download it through SCP. I could use WinSCP, but I use Linux and I pratically use the terminal for everything, so I wanted something like WinSCP on my terminal. Yeah, I know there is midnight commander too, but actually I don't like it very much tbh (and hasn't a decent support for scp).
If you're considering to install TermSCP I want to thank you ๐ ! I hope you will enjoy TermSCP!
If you want to contribute to this project, don't forget to check out our contribute guide. Read More
```sh
cargo install termscp ```
Requirements:
Get deb package from HERE
or run wget https://github.com/veeso/termscp/releases/latest/download/termscp_0.3.2_amd64.deb
then install through dpkg:
```sh dpkg -i termscp_*.deb
gdebi termscp_*.deb ```
Get rpm package from HERE
or run wget https://github.com/veeso/termscp/releases/latest/download/termscp-0.3.2-1.x86_64.rpm
then install through rpm:
sh
rpm -U termscp_*.rpm
On Arch Linux based distribution, you can install termscp using for example yay, which I recommend to install AUR packages.
sh
yay -S termscp
You can install TermSCP on Windows using chocolatey
Start PowerShell as administrator and run
ps
choco install termscp
Alternatively you can download the ZIP file from HERE
and then with PowerShell started with administrator previleges, run:
ps
choco install termscp -s .
You can install TermSCP on MacOS using brew
From your terminal run
sh
brew tap veeso/termscp
brew install termscp
TermSCP can be started with the following options:
-P, --password <password> if address is provided, password will be this argument-v, --version Print version info-h, --help Print help pageTermSCP can be started in two different mode, if no extra arguments is provided, TermSCP will show the authentication form, where the user will be able to provide the parameters required to connect to the remote peer.
Alternatively, the user can provide an address as argument to skip the authentication form and starting directly the connection to the remote server.
The address argument has the following syntax:
txt
Let's see some example of this particular syntax, since it's very comfortable and you'll probably going to use this instead of the other one...
Connect using default protocol (defined in configuration) to 192.168.1.31, port is default for this protocol (22); username is current user's name
sh
termscp 192.168.1.31
Connect using default protocol (defined in configuration) to 192.168.1.31, port is default for this protocol (22); username is root
sh
termscp root@192.168.1.31
Connect using scp to 192.168.1.31, port is 4022; username is omar
sh
termscp scp://omar@192.168.1.31:4022
You have probably noticed, that, when providing the address as argument, there's no way to provide the password. Password can be basically provided through 3 ways when address argument is provided:
-P, --password option: just use this CLI option providing the password. I strongly unrecommend this method, since it's very unsecure (since you might keep the password in the shell history)sshpass: you can provide password via sshpass, e.g. sshpass -f ~/.ssh/topsecret.key termscp cvisintin@192.168.1.31scp, ssh, etc.In TermSCP it is possible to save favourites hosts, which can be then loaded quickly from the main layout of termscp. TermSCP will also save the last 16 hosts you connected to. This feature allows you to load all the parameters required to connect to a certain remote, simply selecting the bookmark in the tab under the authentication form.
Bookmarks will be saved, if possible at:
$HOME/.config/termscp/ on Linux/BSD$HOME/Library/Application Support/termscp on MacOsFOLDERID_RoamingAppData\termscp\ on WindowsFor bookmarks only (this won't apply to recent hosts) it is also possible to save the password used to authenticate. The password is not saved by default and must be specified through the prompt when saving a new Bookmark.
I was very undecided about storing passwords in termscp. The reason? Saving a password on your computer might give access to a hacker to any server you've registered. But I must admit by myself that for many machines typing the password everytime is really boring, also many times I have to work with machines in LAN, which wouldn't provide any advantage to an attacker, So I came out with a good compromise for passwords.
I warmly suggest you to follow these guidelines in order to decide whether you should or you shouldn't save passwords:
To create a bookmark, just fulfill the authentication form and then input CTRL+S; you'll then be asked to give a name to your bookmark, and tadah, the bookmark has been created.
If you go to gallery, there is a GIF showing how bookmarks work ๐ช.
Well, kinda. As said before, bookmarks are saved in your configuration directory along with passwords. Passwords are obviously not plain text, they are encrypted with AES-128. Does this make them safe? Well, depends on your operating system:
On Windows and MacOS the passwords are stored, if possible (but should be), in respectively the Windows Vault and the Keychain. This is actually super-safe and is directly managed by your operating system.
On Linux and BSD, on the other hand, the key used to encrypt your passwords is stored on your drive (at $HOME/.config/termscp). It is then, still possible to retrieve the key to decrypt passwords. Luckily, the location of the key guarantees your key can't be read by users different from yours, but yeah, I still wouldn't save the password for a server exposed on the internet ๐. Actually keyring-rs, supports Linux, but for different reasons I preferred not to make it available for this configuration. If you want to read more about my decision read this issue, while if you think this might have been implemented differently feel free to open an issue with your proposal.
TermSCP has, as you might have noticed, many features, one of these is the possibility to view and edit text file. It doesn't matter if the file is located on the local host or on the remote host, termscp provides the possibility to open a file in your favourite text editor. In case the file is located on remote host, the file will be first downloaded into your temporary file directory and then, only if changes were made to the file, re-uploaded to the remote host. TermSCP checks if you made changes to the file verifying the last modification time of the file.
Just a reminder: you can edit only textual file; binary files are not supported.
Text editor is automatically found using this awesome crate, if you want to change the text editor to use, change it in termscp configuration. View more
TermSCP supports some user defined parameters, which can be defined in the configuration. Underhood termscp has a TOML file and some other directories where all the parameters will be saved, but don't worry, you won't touch any of these files, since I made possible to configure termscp from its user interface entirely.
termscp, like for bookmarks, just requires to have these paths accessible:
$HOME/.config/termscp/ on Linux/BSD$HOME/Library/Application Support/termscp on MacOsFOLDERID_RoamingAppData\termscp\ on WindowsTo access configuration, you just have to press <CTRL+C> from the home of termscp.
These parameters can be changed:
vim). Also GUI editors are supported, unless they nohup from the parent process so if you ask: yes, you can use notepad.exe, and no: Visual Studio Code doesn't work.A anyway.Display first is selected, directories will be sorted using the configured method but displayed before files, viceversa if Display last is selected.Along with configuration, termscp provides also an essential feature for SFTP/SCP clients: the SSH key storage.
You can access the SSH key storage, from configuration moving to the SSH Keys tab, once there you can:
<CTRL+N> and you will be prompted to create a new key. Provide the hostname/ip address and the username associated to the key and finally a text editor will open up: paste the PRIVATE ssh key into the text editor, save and quit.<DEL> or <CTRL+E> on the key you want to remove, to delete persistently the key from termscp.<ENTER> on the key you want to edit, to change the private key.Q: Wait, my private key is protected with password, can I use it?
A: Of course you can. The password provided for authentication in termscp, is valid both for username/password authentication and for RSA key authentication.
It is possible through configuration to define a custom format for the file explorer. This field, with name File formatter syntax will define how the files will be displayed in the file explorer.
The syntax for the formatter is the following {KEY1}... {KEY2}... {KEYn}....
Each key in bracket will be replaced with the related attribute, while everything outside brackets will be left unchanged.
These are the keys supported by the formatter:
ATIME: Last access time (with syntax %b %d %Y %H:%M)CTIME: Creation time (with syntax %b %d %Y %H:%M)GROUP: Owner groupMTIME: Last change time (with syntax %b %d %Y %H:%M)NAME: File name (Elided if longer than 24)PEX: File permissions (UNIX format)SIZE: File size (omitted for directories)SYMLINK: Symlink (if any -> {FILE_PATH})USER: Owner userIf left empty, the default formatter syntax will be used: {NAME} {PEX} {USER} {SIZE} {MTIME}
| Key | Command | Reminder |
|---------------|-------------------------------------------------------|-------------|
| <ESC> | Disconnect from remote; return to authentication page | |
| <TAB> | Switch between log tab and explorer | |
| <BACKSPACE> | Go to previous directory in stack | |
| <RIGHT> | Move to remote explorer tab | |
| <LEFT> | Move to local explorer tab | |
| <UP> | Move up in selected list | |
| <DOWN> | Move down in selected list | |
| <PGUP> | Move up in selected list by 8 rows | |
| <PGDOWN> | Move down in selected list by 8 rows | |
| <ENTER> | Enter directory | |
| <SPACE> | Upload / download selected file | |
| <A> | Toggle hidden files | All |
| <B> | Sort files by | Bubblesort? |
| <C> | Copy file/directory | Copy |
| <D> | Make directory | Directory |
| <E> | Delete file (Same as DEL) | Erase |
| <G> | Go to supplied path | Go to |
| <H> | Show help | Help |
| <I> | Show info about selected file or directory | Info |
| <L> | Reload current directory's content | List |
| <N> | Create new file with provided name | New |
| <O> | Edit file; see Text editor | Open |
| <Q> | Quit TermSCP | Quit |
| <R> | Rename file | Rename |
| <U> | Go to parent directory | Upper |
| <DEL> | Delete file | |
| <CTRL+C> | Abort file transfer process | |
The developer documentation can be found on Rust Docs at https://docs.rs/termscp
NoSuchFileOrDirectory on connect (WSL): I know about this issue and it's a glitch of WSL I guess. Don't worry about it, just move the termscp executable into another PATH location, such as /usr/bin, or install it through the appropriate package format (e.g. deb).Contributions are welcome! ๐
If you think you can contribute to TermSCP, please follow TermSCP's contributions guide
View TermSCP's changelog HERE
TermSCP is powered by these aweseome projects:
Termscp Home
Bookmarks
Setup
Text editor
Licensed under the GNU GPLv3 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
You can read the entire license HERE