SSHFS-Win is a minimal port of SSHFS to Windows. Under the hood it uses Cygwin for the POSIX environment and WinFsp for the FUSE functionality.
SSHFS-Win is a minimal port of SSHFS to Windows, enabling secure file system access over SSH. Designed for seamless integration, it leverages Cygwin for POSIX compatibility and WinFsp for FUSE functionality, providing robust remote file management capabilities.
Key Features:
Minimal design with core functionality focused on SSH-based file access.
Utilizes Cygwin to enable a POSIX environment on Windows.
Implements FUSE functionality through WinFsp for efficient file system operations.
Cross-platform compatibility, allowing access to Linux-based file systems from Windows.
Secure file transfer and management over SSH protocol.
Ideal for developers, system administrators, researchers, or any professional requiring seamless access to remote Linux servers from a Windows environment. SSHFS-Win simplifies workflow by providing secure, efficient, and reliable file system integration without the need for complex setup or additional software. It can be installed via winget for easy deployment.
README
SSHFS-Win · SSHFS for Windows
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GUI Frontends
SSHFS-Win is a minimal port of SSHFS to Windows. Under the hood it uses Cygwin for the POSIX environment and WinFsp for the FUSE functionality.
Once you have installed WinFsp and SSHFS-Win you can map a network drive to a directory on an SSHFS host using Windows Explorer or the net use command.
Windows Explorer
In Windows Explorer select This PC > Map Network Drive and enter the desired drive letter and SSHFS path using the following UNC syntax:
\\sshfs\REMUSER@HOST[\PATH]
The first time you map a particular SSHFS path you will be prompted for the SSHFS username and password. You may choose to save these credentials with the Windows Credential Manager in which case you will not be prompted again.
In order to unmap the drive, right-click on the drive icon in Windows Explorer and select Disconnect.
You can map a network drive from the command line using the net use command:
> net use X: \\sshfs\billziss@mac2018.local
The password is invalid for \\sshfs\billziss@mac2018.local.
Enter the user name for 'sshfs': billziss
Enter the password for sshfs:
The command completed successfully.
You can list your net use drives:
$ net use
New connections will be remembered.
Status Local Remote Network
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
X: \\sshfs\billziss@mac2018.local
WinFsp.Np
The command completed successfully.
REMUSER is the remote user (i.e. the user on the SSHFS host whose credentials are being used for access).
HOST is the SSHFS host.
PORT is the remote port on the SSHFS host (optional; default is 22).
PATH is the remote path. This is interpreted as follows:
The sshfs prefix maps to HOST:~REMUSER/PATH on the SSHFS host (i.e. relative to REMUSER's home directory).
The sshfs.r prefix maps to HOST:/PATH on the SSHFS host (i.e. relative to the HOST's root directory).
The sshfs.k prefix maps to HOST:~REMUSER/PATH and uses the ssh key in %USERPROFILE%/.ssh/id_rsa (where %USERPROFILE% is the home directory of the local Windows user). To specify a different specific key, define an alias of the HOST with the specific private ssh key you want to use in the ssh config. BEWARE: only keys without a pass phrase are supported.
The sshfs.kr prefix maps to HOST:/PATH and uses the ssh key in %USERPROFILE%/.ssh/id_rsa. To specify a different specific key, define an alias of the HOST with the specific private ssh key you want to use in the ssh config. BEWARE: only keys without a pass phrase are supported.
LOCUSER is the local Windows user (optional; USERNAME or DOMAIN+USERNAME format).
Please note that this functionality is rarely necessary with latest versions of WinFsp.
SiriKali is a GUI front end for SSHFS-Win (and other file systems). Instructions on setting up SiriKali for SSHFS-Win can be found at this link. Please report problems with SiriKali in its issues page.
SiriKali supports:
Password authentication.
Public key authentication.
Key Agents and KeePass 2.
SSHFS-Win-Manager
SSHFS-Win-Manager is a new GUI front end specifically for SSHFS-Win with a user-friendly and intuitive interface. SSHFS-Win-Manager integrates well with Windows and can be closed to the system tray. Please report problems with SSHFS-Win-Manager in its issues page.
SSHFS-Win-Manager supports:
Password authentication.
Public key authentication.
Using Jump Hosts
sshfs-win itself does not currently support ssh tunneling, but something similar can be achieved using the built-in openSSH of windows.
use openSSH t create a local port forward through the jump host to the target
ssh -L ::
All standard settings of the ssh config may be used in this step.
Reference example ssh config:
create the file C:\Users\\.ssh\config and/or add the following lines:
Host
Hostname
User
IdentityFile
IdentitesOnly yes
connect to the target server using the following
\\sshfs\REMUSER@localhost!
or similar.
Advanced Usage
It is possible to use the sshfs-win.exe and sshfs.exe programs directly for advanced usage scenarios. Both programs can be found in the bin subdirectory of the SSHFS-Win installation (usually \Program Files\SSHFS-Win\bin).
The sshfs-win.exe program is useful to launch sshfs.exe from a cmd.exe prompt (sshfs-win cmd) or to launch sshfs.exe under the control of the WinFsp Launcher (sshfs-win svc). The sshfs-win.exe program SHOULD NOT be used from Cygwin. The sshfs-win.exe program has the following usage:
usage: sshfs-win cmd SSHFS_COMMAND_LINE
SSHFS_COMMAND_LINE command line to pass to sshfs
usage: sshfs-win svc PREFIX X: [LOCUSER] [SSHFS_OPTIONS]
PREFIX Windows UNC prefix (note single backslash)
\sshfs[.SUFFIX]\[LOCUSER=]REMUSER@HOST[!PORT][\PATH]
sshfs: remote user home dir
sshfs.r: remote root dir
sshfs.k: remote user home dir with key authentication
sshfs.kr: remote root dir with key authentication
LOCUSER local user (DOMAIN+USERNAME)
REMUSER remote user
HOST remote host
PORT remote port
PATH remote path (relative to remote home or root)
X: mount drive
SSHFS_OPTIONS additional options to pass to SSHFS
The sshfs.exe program can be used with an existing Cygwin installation, but it requires prior installation of FUSE for Cygwin on that Cygwin installation. FUSE for Cygwin is included with WinFsp and can be installed on a Cygwin installation by executing the command:
$ sh "$(cat /proc/registry32/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/WinFsp/InstallDir | tr -d '\0')"/opt/cygfuse/install.sh
FUSE for Cygwin installed.
Passing options to sshfs for mapped network drives
When using mapped network drives created in Windows Explorer or using "net use", you can't directly pass options to sshfs. You can, however, pass them via a registry patch. When you then map a network drive or use "net use", the options are automatically passed in the background. Registry patches for common issues below are provided and serve as an example.
Preventing timeouts
A connection will timeout after some minutes when nothing is transferred. To prevent this, pass e.g. "-o ServerAliveInterval=30" as SSHFS_OPTIONS. A keep-alive request is sent every 30 seconds.
Map network drive or "net use": Use the provided "ServerAliveInterval.reg" registry patch.
Setting looser permissions for new files and directories
On a shared file server, the default permissions for new files created may be too strict and prevent others from reading and writing them. To set looser permissions, pass e.g. "-o create_file_umask=0117,create_dir_umask=0007" as SSHFS_OPTIONS. This will allow owner/group read and write permissions on new files and owner/group read, write and execute permissions on new directories.
Map network drive or "net use": Use the provided "GroupReadWrite.reg" registry patch.
Project Organization
This is a simple project:
sshfs is a submodule pointing to the original SSHFS project.
sshfs-win.c is a simple wrapper around the sshfs program that is used to implement the "Map Network Drive" functionality.
sshfs-win.wxs is a the Wix file that describes the SSHFS-Win installer.
patches is a directory with a couple of simple patches over SSHFS.
Makefile drives the overall process of building SSHFS-Win and packaging it into an MSI.
Building
In order to build SSHFS-Win you will need Cygwin and the following Cygwin packages:
gcc-core
git
libglib2.0-devel
make
meson
patch
You will also need:
FUSE for Cygwin. It is included with WinFsp and can be installed on a Cygwin installation by executing the command:
$ sh "$(cat /proc/registry32/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/WinFsp/InstallDir | tr -d '\0')"/opt/cygfuse/install.sh
FUSE for Cygwin installed.
Wix toolset. This is a native Windows package that is used to build the SSHFS-Win MSI installer.
To build:
Open a Cygwin prompt.
Change directory to the sshfs-win repository.
Issue make.
The sshfs-win repository includes the upstream SSHFS project as a submodule; if you have not already done so, you must initialize it with git submodule update --init sshfs.
License
SSHFS-Win uses the same license as SSHFS, which is GPLv2+. It interfaces with WinFsp which is GPLv3 with a FLOSS exception.
It also packages the following components:
Cygwin: LGPLv3
GLib2: LGPLv2
SSH: "all components are under a BSD licence, or a licence more free than that"
