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SFTP

This plugins uses the extends CodeLite functionality to provide remote access to remote machines. When this plugin is enabled, you get a new tab in the workspace view named SFTP which provides an Explorer like view to a remote file system on a remote machine.

To browse the remote machine file system you first need to define an SSH account.

Installing SSH Tools on Windows

On Windows 10 and later, install OpenSSH tools as described here

Uploading keys to remote machines

To generate a public key which allows you to access a remote machine without typing a password, run this from a terminal and follow the instructions (usually clicking ENTER do the trick):

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "YOUR@EMAIL.COM"

The above will generate 2 files for you:

~/.ssh/id_rsa
~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Tip

Under Windows, these files are placed under %USERPROFILE%\.ssh

Copy the content of the file id_rsa.pub and append it to the file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the remote machine

A one liner to do this

  • Open a terminal and ssh into the remote machine
  • Type this from the terminal (replacing id_rsa.pub content goes here with the actual content):
echo "id_rsa.pub content goes here" >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

SSH accounts

Now that you have created a key to access to the remote machine, its time to define an account in CodeLite.

From the main menu bar, open the account manager dialog:

  • Plugins -> SFTP -> Open SSH account manager
  • Click on the Add button
  • Fill the following fields:

SSH account dialog

Field name Description Mandatory
Account Name Give the account a meaningful name ✓
Host / IP Remote machine IP or DNS ✓
Port SSH server port, most ssh servers are accepting connections on port 22
Username Login user name on the remote machine ✓
Password When login using password based access, this will be the password
Default folder Set a default folder for the account
  • Finally, click the Test connection button to test your account

The SFTP Explorer view

In addition for defining new SSH accounts in CodeLite, the SFTP plugin offers a tree view to a remote machine

  • In the workspace pane, select the SFTP tab (if its not there, you can check under the Hidden tabs menu)
  • Click on the Connect tool button

  • In the dialog that shown:
    • Check the option connect to an existing account
    • Select the account from the drop down list

You should now be able to browse files on the remote machine

Sync Folder with Remote

Since CodeLite 19.0.0

You can upload the files of a local folder to a remote machine in one step:

  • In a folder view (for example the File Explorer tab), right-click a folder and select Sync Folder with Remote
  • In the dialog that opens:
    • Choose the target account
    • Enter the remote folder, or click the Browse... button to choose it from the remote machine
    • In the file list, uncheck the files that you do not want to upload. Use the Select All and Unselect All buttons on the right of the list, or press Space to check or uncheck the selected file
    • To find files quickly, type in the filter field above the list. Only the paths that contain the text are displayed (the search is not case sensitive). For example, type .cpp to display only the .cpp files
  • Click OK

The file list has three columns: Local Path, Remote Path and Size. The paths are relative to the local folder (shown in the read-only Local Folder field) and to the Remote Folder. A file is uploaded to <remote folder>/<remote path>.

Notes:

  • Only the files that are directly inside the folder are listed. Nested folders are not included. If the folder has no files, CodeLite shows a Nothing to Sync message.
  • When a filter is used, only the files that are displayed (and checked) are uploaded. Select All and Unselect All also change only the displayed files.
  • Existing files on the remote machine are overwritten. Nothing is deleted on the remote machine.
  • If the remote folder does not exist, it is created, including its missing parent folders (like mkdir -p).
  • CodeLite remembers the account and the remote folder that you entered, and fills them in next time.
  • In a File System Workspace that has a remote folder and an SSH account (the Remote page of the workspace settings, with remote enabled), the dialog is already filled for you. The remote folder is <remote workspace folder>/<selected folder, relative to the workspace root>. For example, if the workspace root is /home/me/project, the remote workspace folder is /srv/project, and you sync /home/me/project/src/ui, the remote folder is /srv/project/src/ui. You can still change it. If remote development is disabled for the workspace, or no remote folder is set, the Remote folder field is left empty.
  • When the sync starts, the SFTP Log view opens and shows the progress. It does not block the rest of the IDE. Click Cancel to stop. The file that is being uploaded is not interrupted, but the next files are skipped.

Sync Files with Remote

Since CodeLite 19.0.0

You can also upload only some files, even if they are in different folders:

  • In a file view (for example the File Explorer tab, or the C++ workspace tree), select one or more files, right-click, and select Sync Files with Remote
  • The dialog is the same as the one of Sync Folder with Remote. The Local Folder field shows the folder that the paths in the list are relative to:
    • If a workspace is open and all the files are inside it, this is the workspace root folder
    • Otherwise, it is the closest folder that contains all the files. If the files are on different drives, CodeLite shows a message and nothing is uploaded

  • Enter the Remote Folder, the remote machine folder that matches the Local Folder. Each file keeps its path relative to this folder, so files with the same name in different folders do not overwrite each other. For example:

    Local Path Remote Path
    a\b\file1.cpp a/b/file1.cpp
    c\d\file2.cpp c/d/file2.cpp

    With the Remote Folder set to /home/eran/myworkspace, the files are uploaded to /home/eran/myworkspace/a/b/file1.cpp and /home/eran/myworkspace/c/d/file2.cpp - The remote folders are created if they do not exist. Everything else (the filter, Select All, the SFTP Log progress and Cancel) works like in the folder sync - CodeLite remembers the account, and the Remote Folder for the same Local Folder. Unlike the folder sync, the Remote Folder that you used for other folders is not suggested, because the paths in the list are relative to the Local Folder. The first time you sync files of a folder, the Remote Folder can be empty - In a File System Workspace with a remote folder, the Remote Folder is filled in for you, as described above