SSHFS Desktop Application

Setup fuse

1. Run the following in a terminal:

   modprobe fuse
   

2. Create a FUSE usergroup and add yourself to the group

   sudo groupadd fuse
   sudo usermod -a -G fuse $USER
   

3. Create a set of ssh-keys, press enter when asked to name the file (blank) and press enter when asked to enter a passphrase (blank):

   ssh-keygen -t rsa
   

4. Transport the key to the remote server:

   ssh-copy-id -i .ssh/id_rsa.pub user@example.com
   

5. Now when you run sshfs you will not need to enter your password.

Create Shell Script

1. Run the following command to create an empty shell script:

   touch +x ~/Documents/sshfs_mount.sh
   chmod +x ~/Documents/sshfs_mount.sh
   gedit ~/Documents/sshfs_mount.sh
   

2. Enter the command you normally run to connect to the remote server, change mount_dir to match your local mount location:

   #!/bin/bash
   mount_dir="/path/to/mount/directory"
   if (! mountpoint -q $mount_dir); then
       sshfs user@example.com:/home/[user]/ $mount_dir -o   ServerAliveInterval=15,ServerAliveCountMax=3,Compression=no,follow_symlinks
   else
       umount $mount_dir
   fi
   

3. In the script, the filesystem will be mounted/unmounted depending on the status. Save and close the file.

Create Desktop Entry File

1. Run the following command to create an empty shell script:

   touch ~/Documents/sshfs_mount.desktop
   chmod +x ~/Documents/sshfs_mount.desktop
   gedit ~/Documents/sshfs_mount.desktop
   

2. Paste the following into the document, ensure you update the brackets:

   #!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
   
   [Desktop Entry]
   Version=1.0
   Type=Application
   Terminal=false
   Icon=[path/to/icon]
   Name=[Name the application]
   Exec=[path/to/sshfs_mount.sh]
   

3. Save and close.

4. Move the desktop entry file into the applications directory:

   sudo mv ~/Documents/sshfs_mount.desktop /usr/share/applications/
   

5. Search in applications for the desktop entry file, right-click and add to favorites.