this post was submitted on 09 May 2025
56 points (93.8% liked)

Linux

54442 readers
400 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
56
SSH managers on Linux? (lemmy.sdf.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org to c/linux@lemmy.ml
 

Curious what folks are using to organise their remote connections? I liked WinSSHTerm and have tried replacing it with Remote Desktop Manager, but it seems a bit broken (fonts look terrible in a terminal, sftp doesn't work, RDP sort of works, but it's not great).

RDP is not a must. Folders, ssh, key auth, sftp and scp are the main things I'm looking for. Currently considering Remmina but though I would check if ppl have strong views on this topic before trying the next app.

I'm using cinnamon with mint 22.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] thenextguy@lemmy.world 79 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I just use ~/.ssh/config

e.g.

Host website
    Hostname some.hostname.foo
    User bob
    Port 1500
[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 19 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

And most secondary apps, e.g. git and sshfs, even Gigolo, recognize these aliases. It's the best.

[–] thenextguy@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

And vscode uses them for remote ssh development.

[–] Xanza@lemm.ee 9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

This is the way. Even if you have a lot, it's not hard to pull up a list of options;

❯ cat ~/.ssh/config | grep 'Host ' | awk '{print $2}'

Or you can make it interactive;

❯ ssh $(cat ~/.ssh/config | grep 'Host ' | awk '{print $2}' | fzf)

ez pz

[–] elmicha@feddit.org 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Or just use completion: press tab once or twice after the ssh command (and a space). If that doesn't work, install the bash-completion package.

[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago

Shell completion ftw. Once you grok the double-tab you might start using the terminal more than your filemanager.

[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Meh. ssh<space><tab><tab> does the same.

Also, useless use of cat. And grep.

awk '/Host / {print $2}' ~/.ssh/config | fzf
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] CocaineShrimp@lemm.ee 39 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Not a GUI, but I keep my ~/.ssh/config clean by splitting my configs into folders, and including them in the main ~/.ssh/config.

I have the folder, ~/.ssh/config.d/, and here's what it looks like:

~/.ssh/config.d
.
├── work
│   ├── dev.config
│   ├── staging.config
│   └── prod.config
└── server
    ├── development.config
    ├── containers.config
    ├── home.config
    ├── pis.config
    └── server.config

Then my ~/.ssh/config looks like this:

Include config.d/work/*
Include config.d/server/*
Include config.d/other/*
[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Cool, I did it with my git config a couple weeks ago, I didn't know you could do it with ssh too.

for those interested:

[include]
path = ~/.config/git/shared.ini
path = ~/.config/git/dev-machine.ini
path = ~/.config/git/aliases.ini
path = ~/.config/git/self.ini
[–] Xanza@lemm.ee 7 points 2 weeks ago

Oh well that's just sexy. Never knew ssh config recognized Include.

[–] ashley@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 weeks ago

(looks at my 230 line config)

yeah.. maybe

[–] Lemmchen@feddit.org 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

ssh config? Not sure what you're looking for. Like a list of preconfigured connections?

[–] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

A graphical interface to store and sort the remote connections. I have 20+ remote systems I need to maintain and apps like this provide tabbed experience like a browser to connect to them.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago (8 children)

If you're dead set on a GUI for this, I guess you'd be in the minority which is why you're probably not finding a lot out there.

I think Remmina does this though, and it's solid as an RDP client otherwise.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] ignoble_stigmas@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You can have multiple ssh config files, with includes, to keep the configurations structured and organized, and not one long dump file, then use any gui terminal app that supports tabs. And tab+auto complete hostnames from the said configs. Some apps also support something like multiple profiles, so you can put there your ssh command, if you want some gui lists. I follow this approach and it is very portable, as the only thing I need to care about are my config files.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] foremanguy92_@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 weeks ago

Just the old .ssh/config file, works like a charm on all terminals :)

[–] suicidaleggroll@lemm.ee 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

How about XPipe?

https://xpipe.io/

It can even auto-configure itself by parsing out your ~/.ssh/config so you can keep everything defined there for easy CLI access but also use the GUI when desired.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Konsole has an SSH Manager plugin you can enable.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] BrilliantantTurd4361@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The reason you are having trouble finding a replacement is because thats not really how the linux world approaches things.

Learn the terminal, scp, ssh (esp key auth if you havent), sshfs, tmux, vim or emacs and you will find you are incredibly effective at modern admin tasks. If you havent already, look into something like saltstack or ansible to make your life even easier.

[–] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I use those tools already and have been administering Linux/bsd/docker for years. What's new for me is using it as a desktop. The existence of scp, ssh etc dont solve this problem and while I find it interesting to learn how other admins are essentially making their own central console out of these components, it is a bit much seeing commenters insist that this is the same thing, or suggesting that anyone who wants a central console for their remote systems must be somehow incompetent. Sysadmins can have different workflow and tooling preferences.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I've been using Linux for almost 30 years, and I agree with you completely. There should be a plethora of tools to organize SSH hosts, but unfortunately none of them are great, or at least I've never particular gelled with any. I just remember the hostnames and what user I happen to use for each, and copy my keys around, because I jump around between a lot of computers.

I did use SSHwifty for a while because then I could just jump into a browser and go to a webpage with all of them. Dunno why I got away from that, it was handy.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] gnuplusmatt@reddthat.com 6 points 2 weeks ago

in my terminal I press ctrl + r and then type the name of the machine

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Uh, I just type ssh or rsync into the terminal and that's it. It's a manageable amount of computers/servers I connect to, so I can remeber their names. Regular ssh stores all the keys or custom ports / IPs in its config. What's the advantage of using some manager?

[–] timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

I hear ya on RDP. Sadly I still need to use that at times so reminna is good.

Otherwise, I just use tmux. Colleagues use https://midnight-commander.org/ for SCP and stuff of you like. I prefer simple rsync and whatever but they seem to like it. Something to look into.

[–] Valon_Blue@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Use Tabby. It is, by far, the closest to a Linux terminal experience. Likely because it's cross platform. I say this as someone that absolutely despises Windows terminal experiences.

[–] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

update to say that tabby is nice for ssh including key auth, and with profiles and groups it gets most of the job done. There is an sftp "plugin" but all it does is summon sftp. Will see if I can get it to open filezilla and use the env vars in calling the command. Setting aside RDP for now as guac looks like a good fit there.

[–] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

tabby looks neat. already has an mcp plugin - impressive.

[–] RandomChain@lemm.ee 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I really like Asbru and have been using it for a couple of years. I used Remmina for a little while but never liked its look and feel.

Not too much active development has been going on lately, sadly, but the latest version still works very well.

https://www.asbru-cm.net/

[–] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

This looks great - thanks!

[–] golden_zealot@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago

I just install my keys as needed to the machines and then configure aliases for quick connections. For file transfer with SFTP I'm using Filezilla because its queuing functionality and site management are nice.

I think for what you are looking for, both puTTY and Remmina should be capable as well as the other options suggested here

[–] Peffse@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I'll be watching this discussion, as I'm currently using Remmina. It meet the bare minimum of SSH & RDP, but it doesn't have a clear method to organize connections and instead uses a big list. I also find the interface a tad counterintuitive, so maybe I'm just using it wrong.

It also seems to have a bug where it launches twice whenever I start my computer. So I have to close one.

[–] timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago

It has groups FYI. Set it under your specific connection settings.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

ssh.serverdomain scripts that immediately can do things like turn on the required vpn. In combo with SSH keys and non port 22, it's ideal

[–] ivgranite@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It is $120 per year for a single user. And to be fair I didn't specify a budget.

Curious though if you use terminus and think that it's worth it? It looks slick but it costs more than my IDE.

[–] ivgranite@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

The free tier is pretty decent as is (at least I think there’s a free tier, unless I was grandfathered in or something). I did pay the $120 and it is pretty handy for mobile usage. The iOS app is great. Although, my poor impulse control is not a good measure of value

[–] aMockTie@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I use Apache Guacamole, which works great for just about any kind of remote access and has a dead simple to use Docker Container.

It supports folders, copy/paste, uploading/downloading files, multiple open connections at once, and alternative mouse modes for touch screens. Best of all, it's completely free and open source.

[–] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

This looks seriously impressive - and with a docker. Nice. Thank you.

[–] aMockTie@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I currently run it with Keycloak for Auth and previously had it behind a Nginx Proxy Manager reverse proxy, but have since switched to using a Cloudflare tunnel.

It works great and allows me to provision limited and controlled access over various game servers to admins of those servers. They can access what they need and nothing more, and only on the servers that they have been granted access.

[–] ParadeDuGrotesque@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

I would say, like many others, Remmina.

Putty also has a Linux version, so you can use that as well. Its session management is a bit clunky, but it works and it offers some fairly good functionalities.

But ssh is first and foremost a command line tool. As others have said, invest some time to learn its commands and configuration files.

[–] i_am_not_a_robot@feddit.uk 2 points 2 weeks ago

Muon.

Does SSH, SFTP and other stuff.

[–] MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 weeks ago

XPipe is what I use, supports syncing via git, SSH, sftp, RDP, vnc, etc.. And can manage docker containers too. It also has scripts you can define that automatically work on any SSH connection.

[–] auginator@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

SecureCRT. Expensive but my work paid for it.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Marthirial@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Take a look at PortX. Just installed it today in Windows and Fedora 42. I have a Synchthing server where I store a Veracrypt vault with the public keys.

Remmina is great but no Windows option.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›