2018-12-02

The Advent of Void: Day 2: sshfs

sshfs(1) is a fuse filesystem that mounts a remote directory into the local filesytem. It uses the secure sftp protocol.

On Void you’ll find sshfs in the fuse-sshfs packages. It can be installed using the following command:

xbps-install -S fuse-sshfs

Once it is installed the only requirement on the remote site is a running ssh daemon with sftp support. To mount remotes /home/void on the local box make sure you have the target directory owned by the mounting user and call the following command:

$ sshfs void@voidlinux.org:/home/void /tmp/mnt

Depending on your ssh setup you may be prompted for authentication. Once the connection is established you can access the remote folder just like any local directory:

$ cd /tmp/mnt
$ ls
GNU_Manifesto.txt  NSA_Backdoor_contract.pdf  rockyou.txt

To unmount the filesystem you can use the fusermount tool:

$ fusermount -u /tmp/mnt

If you like to use sshfs with /etc/fstab it’s easy to do with Void:

sshfs#bkp@bkp.a-server.ninja:/media/store1/bkp /backup fuse defaults,allow_other,reconnect,delay_connect 0 0

For Void the option delay_connect is strongly recommended. It will delay establishing the connection to the point when the filesystem is accessed. This prevents mount errors in case the network hasn’t been set up when the filesystem is mounted.

Also make sure you’re allowed to login without a prompt as you’re not able to enter it.

For more information about sshfs consult the sshfs manpage.