Accessing Files Remotely with the Nemo File Manager

Recently I was reading a post about all those things the Dolphin file manager can do except local file management. Quite often we forget that modern file managers have been able to manage files remotely and integrate protocols like FTP and accessing Samba shares since, well, for ever. The article about browsing shares securely with the fish protocol using ssh got me checking whether Nemo, the file manager in Cinnamon, can do this as well.

As it happens I'm unable to find the one I read but here's one on the same subject. Sure enough we can do the same in Nemo. Of course we need a server with ssh enabled on the other end.

Go to the File menu entry, the fifth entry half-way down is Connect to server. The following dialogue box will open.

Here we can choose what type of connection to open, i.e. SSH, FTP (with authorization), anonymous FTP, WebDAV share or secure WebDAV via HTTPS or Windows share - presumably this means Samba. As usual, I do not advocate using Windows protocols or shares in an environment that does not actually have any Windows machines on the network when there are other, more standard solutions available. Set the remote directory you want to access or browse there once connected.

Enter your server address IP and desired protocol, the port number will be filled in by Nemo. If authentication is required fill in the username on the server you connect to and your credentials. This may be the same as your local username.

If everything is correct this should open the remote directory in the file manager. Now we can browse it like any local directory, manipulate and edit files, upload files via drag and drop etc.

Connecting with SSH also allows me to stream any backed up media and video files from my server at another location, no need to run Samba if you don't want to have to wait until the whole file downloaded like with the FTP file transfer protocol.

Watching Annihilation from the Movies folder:

With a good connection this works perfectly like any other streaming service - no buffering.

Conclusion

So far I've always used Filezilla to manage remote file backups but may do this now increasingly in Nemo as it is quicker and more transparent staying within the file manager. And you can watch movies and stream your backed up music without having to download them first.