autosshfs

A command-line tool using ~/.ssh/config to automatically connect sshfs mountpoints. This may be useful for people who have a lot of Hosts in their ~/.ssh/config and want hassle-free sshfs mounts.

How does it work

autosshfs parses the ssh configuration file and allows to create an (almost) automatic sshfs filesystem. While autosshfs supports its own configuration directives in ~.ssh/config, no configuration directives are obligatory.

Dependencies

autosshfs has very few dependencies. Install the following packages (Fedora / RHEL):

• fuse-sshfs
• perl-File-Path
• perl-Getopt-Long
• perl-IO-Interactive

Put autosshfs into $HOME/bin or /usr/local/bin and you're good to go.

autosshfs usage

autosshfs [--file <file>] [--connect [<target>[,<target2>,...]]] [--disconnect [<target>[,<target2>,...]]] [--reconnect [<target>[,<target2>,...]]] [--list] [--mounts] [--verbose] [--help]

    -h          : Display this help message and exit
    -f <file>   : Use the specified file instead of $HOME/.ssh/config
    -l          : List targets and exit
    -m          : List mount status and exit
    -c          : Connect all targets
    -c <target> : Connect a specific target or a comma-separated list of targets
    -d          : Disconnect all targets
    -d <target> : Disconnect a specific target or a comma-separated list of targets
    -r          : Reconnect all targets
    -r <target> : Reconnect a specific target or a comma-separated list of targets
    -v          : Verbose; also implies '-m' after connect/disconnect/reconnect

Supported directives

The autosshfs directives "hide" in the comments of the ssh configuration file, one per line. The line containing an autosshfs directive must start with #!!!#, and may be preceded by whitespace. The format is:

#!!!# <variable> <value>

All the directives are case-insensitive.

Host * section

These directives are ignored if they aren't in the Host * section.

• BaseDir: the "root" of the sshfs "tree". Default: $HOME/autosshfs
• PromptForAll: if autosshfs should ask for user's confirmation for the actions concerning 'all' targets (--connect, --disconnect, --reconnect without arguments). Possible values: yes, no. If set to yes and autosshfs runs in a non-interactive environment (without a tty), it will exit without performing the action. Default: no

Host <name> section

These directives are ignored if they aren't in the Host <name> section.

• RemoteDir: remote mountpoint to connect. Default: $HOME of the $USER used to connect to the remote server.
• LocalDir: local mountpoint (it will be created if it doesn't exist and the user running autosshfs has appropriate rights), relative to BaseDir. Default: $BaseDir/<name>
• ExcludeFromAll: autosshfs allows to mount / unmount directories for all the Host <name> entries in the configuration file. This directive removes the corresponding Host from this list.

Tips

To mount an ~/.ssh/config entry automatically upon connection, put this into ~/.ssh/config (let's use Host somemachine):

...

Host somemachine
    LocalCommand autosshfs -c %n
...

Host *
    PermitLocalCommand yes

See man ssh_config.

It should be possible to hack something similar to automatically unmount the sshfs mountpoint upon the ssh disconnect (ssh doesn't have a directive corresponding to LocalCommand to be run after disconnect).

To disconnect all the sshfs mountpoints, execute: autosshfs -d. NOTE: as usual, this may fail if the mountpoint is in use; see man fuser.

TODO

• man page (based on this README)
• syntax completion
• Makefile
• RPM packaging
• ???