Files and SFTP

Browse, edit and upload your server files, either in the panel or through an SFTP client.

Feature

The Files tab appears only when the file manager feature is on. If you cannot see the tab, ask your administrator.

Browsing

The file browser opens at the root folder of the server. Click a folder to open it. Click a file to open it in the editor.

The toolbar has three navigation buttons:

Button	Action
Home	Go back to the server root.
Up arrow	Go to the parent folder.
Refresh	Read the current folder again.

The path bar under the toolbar shows each folder in the current path. Click any part of the path to jump to that folder.

The browser also writes the current folder into the page address. The back and forward buttons of your browser move through the folders that you opened.

Search

The search box sits under the path bar. Type part of a name to find matching files and folders.

The search covers the current folder and everything under it. Each result shows the folder that holds the file. Click a result to open it.

The panel returns a maximum of 200 results. If there are more, the result count says more available - narrow your query. Type a longer search term to reduce the list.

The search clears when you move to a different folder.

Uploading files

There are two ways to upload:

1. Click Upload and pick one or more files.
2. Drag files from your computer onto the file list and release them.

Files go into the folder that is open on screen. The panel uploads them one at a time and shows the progress and the file name.

If one file fails, the rest still upload. The panel then names the file that failed.

WARNING

You cannot drag a folder into the browser. Put the folder into an archive, upload the archive, then extract it. You can also use SFTP.

Downloading a file

Right-click a file, or click the three-dot button at the end of its row. Then select Download. The file downloads through your browser.

You cannot download a folder. Compress the folder first, then download the archive.

Creating files and folders

Two buttons in the toolbar create new items in the current folder:

• The plus button creates an empty file. Type the file name with its extension.
• The folder button creates a folder. Type the folder name.

Editing a file

Click a text file to open it in the editor. The editor gives syntax colours for common formats such as JSON, YAML, and properties files. Save the file in the editor when you are finished.

Binary files do not open. The panel shows the message This file type cannot be edited. Binary files are not supported. Download the file instead.

On a small screen the editor takes the whole width. Close the editor to get the file list back.

Renaming, copying and deleting

Right-click an item, or use its three-dot button, to reach these actions:

Action	What happens
Rename	Type a new name for the item. The item stays in the same folder.
Copy	Type a destination path. The panel fills in name (copy) as a starting point. Folders cannot be copied.
Delete	The panel asks first. Deleting a folder deletes everything inside it.

If the new name or the destination is already in use in the folder on screen, the panel asks before it replaces the file. A destination in a different folder is replaced without a question, so read the path before you confirm.

Working with several items

Every row has a checkbox. Tick the boxes for the items that you want, or use Select all above the list.

A bar appears at the top of the list with the number selected and two actions:

• Compress - put the selected items into one archive.
• Delete - delete every selected item. The panel lists them and asks first.

Use Clear to drop the selection. The selection also clears when you move to a different folder.

Compressing to an archive

Select one or more items, then click Compress. Type a name for the archive.

The extension sets the format:

Extension	Format
.zip	ZIP
.tar	TAR
.tar.gz	Compressed TAR
Anything else	ZIP

The archive is saved in the folder that is open on screen.

Extracting an archive

Files that the panel can extract show an Extract button on their row. These are .zip, .jar, .war, .tar, .tar.gz, and .tgz files.

The contents go into the folder that holds the archive.

DANGER

Extraction overwrites any file with the same name as a file inside the archive. This cannot be undone. Take a backup first if the folder holds save data or settings that you need.

The panel asks for confirmation before it starts.

SFTP access

Use SFTP for large uploads, for whole folders, and for any work that the browser cannot do well.

Click SFTP in the file manager toolbar to see your connection details. The same details are on the Settings tab of the server.

Field	Value
Server address	The address and port of the node. The port is 2022 by default. Your administrator can change it.
Username	Your panel username, a full stop, then the short ID of the server. For example, alex.a1b2c3d4.
Password	Your panel account password.

The panel also shows a quick connect command for the sftp command line tool. Copy it with the button at the end of the line.

Each connection is limited to the data folder of that one server. The username includes the server, so you need a separate connection for each server.

WARNING

The username is not your email address. Use your panel username with the server short ID after the full stop, exactly as the panel shows it.

Permissions for other users

If you share your server with other people, these permissions control what they can do with files:

Permission	Allows
Read	See and download files.
Create	Create new files and folders, and upload.
Update	Edit existing files.
Delete	Delete files and folders.
Archive	Compress and extract archives.
SFTP	Connect an SFTP client to the server.

See Server Users for how to invite a person and set these permissions.

Next steps

• Backups to save your files before a big change
• Server users to see what the file permissions cover
• Console to restart after editing a settings file