Linux Graphical SCP
Q: Is there a graphical front end for scp (Secure File Copy) under Linux like WinSCP for Windows?
A: There are a few packages offering this particular functionality that you can install but, even better, you can use the built in Nautilus support for this feature.
I love SCP and when working I use it a lot specially when writing scripts that I need to test on my local machine before moving them to a production server, hope I will soon have enough time to finish the puppet implementation to streamline everything, but there are situations where using the GUI it’s simply more practical. A less known feature of Nautilus is the fact that it has a built-in scp “client” that you can use to copy files to remote machines via ssh without the need to type any command in the shell or installing any package on the machine, in this post I’m going to show you how this works.
All you need to do is to open a File Browser instance on a folder of your choice and then use the key combination CTRL + L to edit the address bar on top of the window :
Now simply edit the address bar with the name or IP address of the machine to which you wish to connect putting ssh:// before the name/IP like this :
You will, of course, be asked for authentication and given to option to store the username/password combination in a permanent way or let the file browser trash the credentials immediately (actual options and graphic could change from one Desktop Environment to another but not the actual functionality) :
Just issue the correct authentication parameters and the content of the remote machine file system will be presented in the window as local folders/files, to copy something to the remote machine simply drag the needed files/directories into this window and you are good to go.
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