[SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

jamesyo0304 · 2015-12-10 17:38:00

I have done a fair amount of googling, and searching on this forum, but have not located a clear and simple way to share files between my Linux laptops. (Sharing with Window machines (Samba) in the house works out of the box with Bunsenlabs, so that's good.) I am wondering if anyone has a preferred method for setting this up. There is a thread on the #! forum (SSH) that doesn't seem to arrive at a definitive solution, but I wasn't able to get through the whole thing. Gotta pay the bills.

Edited as solved on 2015-12-23:

Thank you for all the submissions to this thread! I am guessing that 99% of those reading this edit already know how to do what I was requesting help with. But I wanted to post this edit for the sake of newbies.

Following a posted tip about utilizing sshfs (Oh, Snap) I was able to install sshfs:

sudo apt-get install sshfs

Load the fuse module:

sudo modprobe fuse

And create a local directory to mount my little toy server:

mkdir /home/james/MyServer

I had a hiccup until I discovered I needed to edit the file /etc/fuse.conf and uncomment the option "user_allow_other". After that I was able to connect to my server with:

sudo sshfs -o allow_other james@10.0.0.16:/home/james /home/james/MyServer

The resulting share worked just fine in Thunar, and in Nautilus which I am currently using as the default file manager. [Edit made on 15-12-29] (For instructions on the use of SSH keys I relied on this source.) Through the exercise of configuring the method I chose to use I learned quite a bit. I do realize that using SSH is not the best method if speed is the main concern. Setting up NFS would be a better choice, and I intend to master that at a later time. SSH would be necessary mainly if you have an overriding concern for making the connection secure, but not fast.

Thanks again for the help!

Last edited by jamesyo0304 (2015-12-29 19:28:16)

tknomanzr · 2015-12-10 17:50:02

I use sshfsv ia a script similar to this:

#!/bin/bash
echo <password> | sshfs user@ip:/your_share $HOME/remote -o password_stdin
exit 0

Note: the plain text password is not very secure. It would probably be better to hash it using some algorithm such as sha, then de-hash it before porting it into sshfs. I really need to re-write this script to make it more secure. However, executing the script mounts a share at $HOME/remote (you could put it elsewhere if you preferred.), which gives me gui access to the share via my file manager.

Note 2: you need ssh properly setup as well. A search should give you any number of hits that will help you set it up if needed.

Last edited by tknomanzr (2015-12-10 17:51:20)

PackRat · 2015-12-10 22:12:00

You can set up an NFS server, or since you have Windows and Linux machines, you can set up a simple ftp server.

Friend of mine has Linux, Windows, Mac, and FreeBSD installs; runs the FreeBSD computer as an ftp server for his home network. Only has the one service to deal with that way.

Last edited by PackRat (2015-12-11 14:10:41)

brontosaurusrex · 2015-12-10 22:32:31

On OSX i have a "push" script like

scp "$@" remoteuser@192.168.1.2:/home/remoteuser/downloads/

which will upload stuff to remote ssh server (that is besides using sshfs or just using a client like filezilla). Usage example:

push *.torrent

p.s.
scp can also be used to download stuff, perhaps with previous remote-side inspection like

ssh remoteuser@192.168.1.2 'ls -clhtr /home/remoteuser/downloads'

But that will get boring real fast (unless nicely scripted).

p.s.2.
Since we are talking about drag and dropping, i have found an old conceptual linux droplet "code"
https://github.com/brontosaurusrex/post … nuxDroplet
which should be able to send dropped files to your whatever-script (not really tested in real world).

Last edited by brontosaurusrex (2015-12-11 13:07:11)

pvsage · 2015-12-11 07:49:57

^ Why, because fish:// is dolphin-friendly, obviously. (Sorry.)

iMBeCil · 2015-12-11 11:48:26

@OP: I do regular thunar browsing of both local and REMOTE linux machines (with drag-n-drop, of course). Here is how:

1) setup ssh account(s) and enable ssh access on remote machine(s)
(Probably, you already have this set up.)

2) Generate ssh keys and transfer them to remote linux machines.
(This is optional, but makes connection a bit more convenient, as you don't have to enter passwords every time you want to connect. NB: this is as secure as using password, even more secure.)

3) In terminal enter something like:

$ thunar sftp://username@some.site.com:portnumber/some_dir

Note: you can omit ':portnumber' if you are connecting to the standard port 22

4) ??????????

5) PROFIT

At this point I'm rather busy, but if you need detailed instructions, ask and I (or somebody else) can try to write all details later.

jamesyo0304 · 2015-12-11 21:30:49

I believe I have enough input here to master/minor in LAN administration (in my own home, at least). Thanks to all! I have a busy week ahead, and so won't get to playing until next weekend. I plan to make a detailed account of my experience and will post it back as a [SOLVED] edit to my original post, with proper acknowledgments. :-)

jamesyo0304 · 2015-12-23 02:19:13

I have not had success dragging and dropping files on my Linux machines, but that has been relegated to a low priority. I tried using sftp:// with nautilus, but though it shows that I am connected to the remote host the folders that show in the connection are local. I tried using thunar with sftp protocol on the command line, but without success.

james@JamesThinkPad:~$ sudo thunar sftp james@10.0.0.16
Thunar: Failed to open "sftp": Error when getting information for file '/home/james/sftp': No such file or directory

I also tried this using syntax similar to that suggested in this thread that also failed.

james@JamesThinkPad:~$ sudo thunar sftp://james@10.0.0.16/home/james
[sudo] password for james: 
Thunar: Failed to open "sftp://james@10.0.0.16/home/james": Operation not supported

I am able to establish an ssh connection (with key pairs) and an sftp session with no problems.

I also tried using Dolphin with fish://, but got a similar result as when using nautilus.

When I try using thunar on the remote machine using ssh with X11 forwarding I get unstable results, but I have not finished reading all of the documentation for this use.

More recently, I have been playing at setting up a server on an old netbook, for the sake of configuration exercise, and the more I've been at that the more the desire for gui file management recedes. I would like to set it up once, though, just to say that I did it.

Last edited by jamesyo0304 (2015-12-23 02:28:14)

tknomanzr · 2015-12-23 03:09:57

If you have ssh setup, then sshfs is just an apt-get away. This is your simplest connection. I have stripped out porting the password into it, so it would need to be entered.

sshfs user@ip:/your_share $HOME/remote

I believe you could setup the connection via sftp in gigolo also.

Snap · 2015-12-23 08:38:40

SpaceFM is another great solution for this if you are not in Qt-land (or KDE using Dolphin). For GUI drag n drop I ssh my local machines with it often. You can use other protocols too. SpaceFM is a swiss army knife specially paired with udevil.

PS, BTW, no need for gigolo if SpaceFM is onboard.

Last edited by Snap (2015-12-23 08:46:28)

iMBeCil · 2015-12-25 10:34:24

jamesyo0304 wrote:

I also tried this using syntax similar to that suggested in this thread that also failed.
james@JamesThinkPad:~$ sudo thunar sftp://james@10.0.0.16/home/james
[sudo] password for james: 
Thunar: Failed to open "sftp://james@10.0.0.16/home/james": Operation not supported

Install

$ sudo apt-get install gvfs gvfs-backends

BTW, this is by default installed in BunsenLabs. What are you running?

jamesyo0304 · 2015-12-26 20:33:21

BTW, this is by default installed in BunsenLabs. What are you running?

I am running Bunsenlabs. All is well now. See first post in thread.

Last edited by jamesyo0304 (2015-12-26 20:38:28)

iMBeCil · 2015-12-27 10:19:25

jamesyo0304 wrote:

BTW, this is by default installed in BunsenLabs. What are you running?

I am running Bunsenlabs. All is well now. See first post in thread.

Oh ... I see. (Didn't check the first post. I'm not used to such practice )

Well, OK, I see ... I find it strange that 'thunar sftp...' route didn't work for you, I tested it on vanilla BL install ... But it is important that you solved your problem.

jamesyo0304 · 2015-12-28 17:51:42

iMBeCil wrote:

jamesyo0304 wrote:
BTW, this is by default installed in BunsenLabs. What are you running?

I am running Bunsenlabs. All is well now. See first post in thread.
Oh ... I see. (Didn't check the first post. I'm not used to such practice )
Well, OK, I see ... I find it strange that 'thunar sftp...' route didn't work for you, I tested it on vanilla BL install ... But it is important that you solved your problem.

That you didn't expect to see my edit where I put it tells me I broke with forum protocol.

At the time it seemed like a good idea to edit the opening post, but in hindsight...

I am curious as to why the method you suggested did not work on my machine. I will dig into that at a later time.

Last edited by jamesyo0304 (2015-12-28 17:53:00)

pvsage · 2015-12-28 21:10:27

^ Proper protocol is, indeed, to edit IP to include the solution. It's a good idea to add a new post when you make the edit to IP though, i.e. "I found a solution; it's [foo]. See IP for details."

iMBeCil · 2015-12-28 21:52:08

^Assuming that the 'IP=Initial Post', I must say that I don't notice this custom on BL forum, or didn't note it on old #! forum. AFAICT, it was mostly adding the '[SOLVED]' to the title or similar. Unless topic is insanely long.

But, OK, if there is new policy, I'll comply.

seppalta · 2015-12-29 02:05:58

I don't have the time to sort out everything above, but sections 17 and 18 in lxlinux has guidelines for what I think you want.

pvsage · 2015-12-29 08:23:57

@iMBeCil: Yes; I use the abbreviations IP and OP for "initial post" and "original poster". (Blame it on the #chans.) As for adding the fix to the IP, I consider it a courtesy to anyone looking for a solution to the same problem later on, so they don't have to read through the whole thread. (EDIT: Not really a rule, as "there are no real rules about posting", just what I think Emily Post would have liked had she lived in our age.)

Last edited by pvsage (2015-12-29 08:26:42)

jamesyo0304 · 2015-12-29 18:39:49

pvsage wrote:

@iMBeCil: Yes; I use the abbreviations IP and OP for "initial post" and "original poster". (Blame it on the #chans.) As for adding the fix to the IP, I consider it a courtesy to anyone looking for a solution to the same problem later on, so they don't have to read through the whole thread. (EDIT: Not really a rule, as "there are no real rules about posting", just what I think Emily Post would have liked had she lived in our age.)

This is just what I was thinking... without the cultural depth to reference Emily Post.

Last edited by jamesyo0304 (2015-12-29 18:44:33)

jamesyo0304 · 2015-12-29 19:12:44

seppalta wrote:

I don't have the time to sort out everything above, but sections 17 and 18 in lxlinux has guidelines for what I think you want.

Thank you for pointing me toward this reference. I did once have Samba set up for use on another distro a couple of years ago. These days I am not mixing much with other Windows systems, and was curious about a preferred method of file sharing between Linux machines. I understand that NFS is used, and some folks simply stick with Samba. And one could also configure FTP to share files on a home network. Since I am teaching myself to administer a web server... I thought I would do well to use SSH to login into a remote machine. So far, I seem to have done things correctly for the most part.

I am curious to know if I have included all of the correct steps in my 'Solved' edit for use by someone who is relatively new to Linux and SSH.

#1 2015-12-10 17:38:00

[SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#2 2015-12-10 17:50:02

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#3 2015-12-10 22:12:00

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#4 2015-12-10 22:32:31

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#5 2015-12-11 07:49:57

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#6 2015-12-11 11:48:26

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#7 2015-12-11 21:30:49

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#8 2015-12-23 02:19:13

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#9 2015-12-23 03:09:57

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#10 2015-12-23 08:38:40

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#11 2015-12-25 10:34:24

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#12 2015-12-26 20:33:21

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#13 2015-12-27 10:19:25

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#14 2015-12-28 17:51:42

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#15 2015-12-28 21:10:27

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#16 2015-12-28 21:52:08

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#17 2015-12-29 02:05:58

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#18 2015-12-29 08:23:57

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#19 2015-12-29 18:39:49

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

#20 2015-12-29 19:12:44

Re: [SOLVED] Drag n drop file-sharing between Linux machines

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