You can also tell ExpanDrive to connect to this drive at login, if you start ExpanDrive at login. You can supply a password or use an SSH key (if the latter, leave the password field blank). Give the drive a nickname and select the remote path to change to when you connect if you like. Plug in the server address and optional port, and username. ![]() Click the + button to add a new drive and select the drive type (i.e., SFTP (SSH)). Launch ExpanDrive and open the Drive Manager (see Figure A). If you have SSH access to a remote site, you most likely also have SFTP access.Ĭreating an ExpanDrive drive is simple. So if you use a passphrase-less key, or have the passphrase for the key stored in the OS X keychain, making connections via SFTP is utterly painless. Not only does ExpanDrive support SFTP, it also can use existing SSH keys. Another very nice feature of ExpanDrive is that you can connect to a remote server, then change to a different network or put the computer to sleep, and when you access the remote file system via the Finder next, the connection is still available without the need to re-connect. ExpanDrive can mount remote SFTP, FTP (with or without SSL), and Amazon S3 file systems and display them in the Finder as if they were local. The disadvantage to an FTP client like Transmit, however, is the lack of integration with the Finder.īeing able to connect to remote file systems, securely, and have them displayed in the Finder as if they were part of the local file system is immensely useful, particularly if you want to actually work on the remote file system: for example, mounting your Web site’s file system via SFTP and being able to directly edit files using your Web development IDE, text file, or even a program to manipulate graphics.ĮxpanDrive can do this, and it is ridiculously easy to work with remote files with convenience and security. If you need to use FTP, use a regular FTP client, such as Panic’s Transmit, that can also talk FTP over SSL, FTP+TLS, and SFTP - all secure implementations of the FTP protocol. FTP support is really only useful for local trusted networks as well anyone using plain-jane FTP with authentication on the Internet these days is ignorant, insane, or plain old asking to get hacked. ![]() WebDAV support is quite good and supports HTTPS so that is the only realistic choice for remote file management – if the remote server provides it. SMB, for Windows file sharing, works well, and so does the AFP support, for Mac file sharing. It can communicate with remote servers using SMB, AFP, WebDAV, and to some extent, FTP as well. Unfortunately, it’s support for remote file systems is quite limited, making it really useful only in a local network environment. ![]() The Finder is the primary navigator of files, directories, and file systems on OS X. You can use secure file transfer protocols and navigate remote file systems that will show up in Mac’s Finder. Vincent Danen recommends the ExpanDrive tool to integrate remote file systems with Mac OS X. You can use secure file transfer protocols and navigate remote file systems that will show up in Mac's Finder. Using ExpanDrive to mount remote file systems
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