How to Access Remote File Systems on Linux

Accessing remote file systems from the command line on Linux can be very useful, especially if you need to access files and directories on a different machine or a remote server. There are different protocols you can use to access remote file systems, such as SSH, FTP, and NFS. In this guide, we will cover some of the most common ways to access remote file systems using the command line on Linux. We will show you how to use tools such as SSHFS, FTP, and NFS to mount remote file systems and access them as if they were local directories.

Using SSHFS

SSHFS is a file system client that allows you to mount remote file systems over SSH. SSHFS uses the SFTP protocol to access remote file systems, which makes it secure and easy to use. To use SSHFS, you need to have SSH access to the remote server and the SSHFS package installed on your local machine.

Step 1: Install SSHFS

On Debian/Ubuntu-based distros, run:

sudo apt install sshfs

On Fedora/RPM-based distros, run:

sudo dnf install sshfs

On Arch-based distros, run:

sudo pacman -S sshfs

Step 2: Mount a remote file system

Once you have SSHFS installed, you can mount a remote file system using the following command:

sshfs user@remote_host:/remote/directory /local/mount/point

Replace user with the remote user, remote_host with the IP address or domain name of the remote server, /remote/directory with the directory you want to mount, and /local/mount/point with the local directory where you want to mount the remote file system.

For example, to mount the /home/user directory on the remote server example.com to the /mnt/example directory on your local machine, run:

sshfs user@example.com:/home/user /mnt/example

You will be prompted to enter the password for the remote user. Once you enter the password, the remote file system will be mounted to the local directory, and you can access it like any other local directory.

Step 3: Unmount a remote file system

To unmount the remote file system, use the umount command:

umount /local/mount/point

Using LFTP

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a protocol used for transferring files over the internet. You can use FTP to access remote file systems and download or upload files. To access remote file systems using FTP, you need to have an FTP client installed on your local machine. One of the most popular FTP clients for Linux is LFTP.

Step 1: Install LFTP

On Debian/Ubuntu-based distros, run:

sudo apt install lftp

On Fedora/RPM-based distros, run:

sudo dnf install lftp

On Arch-based distros, run:

sudo pacman -S lftp

Step 2: Connect to a remote FTP server

Once you have LFTP installed, you can connect to a remote FTP server using the following command:

lftp ftp://user:password@remote_host

Replace user with the FTP username, password with the FTP password, and remote_host with the domain name or IP address of the remote FTP server.

For example, to connect to the FTP server ftp.example.com with the username user and the password password, run:

lftp ftp://user:password@ftp.example.com

Step 3: Navigate the remote file system

Once you are connected to the remote FTP server, you can use various commands to navigate the remote file system and download or upload files. For example, to list the files in the current directory, use the ls command:

ls

To change the remote directory, use the cd command:

cd /remote/directory

To download a file from the remote server, use the get command:

get remote_file /path/to/local/file

Replace remote_file with the name of the remote file, and /path/to/local/file with the path to the local directory that you want to download the file to.

For example, to download the file file.txt from the remote server to the local directory /home/user/, run:

get file.txt /home/user/

To upload a file to the remote server, use the put command:

put /path/to/local/file

Replace /path/to/local/file with the path to the local file that you want to upload.

For example, to upload the file file.txt to the remote server from the local directory /home/user/, run:

put /home/user/file.txt

To download all files and directories from the remote server, use the mirror command:

mirror

To download a specific directory from the remote server, run:

mirror /etc /opt/

This command will download the /etc directory from the remote server to the local directory /opt/.

To upload all files and directories to the remote server, use the -R option with the mirror command. This option enables reverse mirror mode:

mirror -R

You can also use other options with the mirror command to customize the download process. For example, you can use the -n option to download files without overwriting existing files, or the -c option to resume a broken download:

mirror -n
mirror -c

Step 4: Quit LFTP

To quit LFTP, run:

exit

Using NFS

Finally, another way to access remote file systems on Linux is using NFS (Network File System). NFS is a distributed file system protocol that allows you to access remote file systems as if they were local file systems.

Step 1: Install NFS

On Debian/Ubuntu-based distros, run:

sudo apt install nfs-common

On Fedora/RPM-based distros, run:

sudo dnf install nfs-utils

On Arch-based distros, run:

sudo pacman -S nfs-utils

Step 2: Mount a remote file system

Once installed, you can mount a remote file system using NFS by running the following command:

sudo mount <hostname>:/path/to/remote/directory /path/to/local/mount/point

Replace <hostname> with the name or IP address of the remote server, /path/to/remote/directory with the path to the remote directory you want to mount, and /path/to/local/mount/point with the local directory where you want to mount the remote directory.

Step 3: Access the remote file system

Once mounted, you can access the remote file system as if it were a local file system. You can read, write, and execute files and directories just as you would with a local file system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are different ways to access remote file systems from the command line on Linux. Whether you prefer SSHFS, FTP, or NFS, you can easily mount remote file systems and access them as if they were local directories.