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| author | Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org> |
|---|---|
| date | Tue, 13 Aug 2002 22:55:18 +0000 |
| parents | f548d7d0c651 |
| children | 82d113655734 |
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\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- @c %**start of header @setfilename ../info/tramp @settitle TRAMP User Manual @setchapternewpage odd @c %**end of header @c This is *so* much nicer :) @footnotestyle end @c Entries for @command{install-info} to use @dircategory Emacs @direntry * TRAMP: (tramp). Transparent Remote Access, Multiple Protocol Emacs remote file access via rsh and rcp. @end direntry @c Macro to make formatting of the tramp program name consistent. @macro tramp @sc{tramp} @end macro @c Copying permissions, et al @copying This file documents @tramp{}, a remote file editing package for Emacs and XEmacs. Copyright @copyright{} 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc. @quotation Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License'' in the Emacs manual. (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.'' This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license. @end quotation @end copying @tex @titlepage @title @tramp{} User Manual @author by Daniel Pittman @author based on documentation by Kai Gro@ss{}johann @page @end titlepage @page @end tex @ifnottex @node Top, Overview, (dir), (dir) @top @tramp{} User Manual @tramp{} stands for `Transparent Remote (file) Access, Multiple Protocol'. This package provides remote file editing, similar to @cite{Ange-FTP} and @cite{EFS}. The difference is that Ange-FTP uses FTP to transfer files between the local and the remote host, whereas @tramp{} uses a combination of @command{rsh} and @command{rcp} or other work-alike programs, such as @command{ssh}/@command{scp}. You can find the latest version of this document on the web at @uref{http://www.freesoftware.fsf.org/tramp/}. @ifhtml This manual is also available as a @uref{tramp_ja.html, Japanese translation}. The latest release of @tramp{} is available for @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/download/tramp/, download}, or you may see @ref{Obtaining @tramp{}} for more details, including the CVS server details. @tramp{} also has a @uref{https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/tramp/, Savannah Project Page}. @end ifhtml There is a mailing list for @tramp{}, available at @email{tramp-devel@@mail.freesoftware.fsf.org}, and archived at @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-rcp@@ls6.cs.uni-dortmund.de/} as well as the usual Savannah archives. @end ifnottex @menu * Overview:: What @tramp{} can and cannot do. For the end user: * Obtaining @tramp{}:: How to obtain @tramp{}. * History:: History of @tramp{} * Installation:: Installing @tramp{} with your (X)Emacs. * Configuration:: Configuring @tramp{} for use. * Usage:: An overview of the operation of @tramp{}. * Bug Reports:: Reporting Bugs and Problems * Frequently Asked Questions:: Questions and answers from the mailing list. For the developer: * Version Control:: The inner workings of remote version control. * Files directories and paths:: How file names, directories and paths are mangled and managed. * Issues:: @detailmenu --- The Detailed Node Listing --- Configuring @tramp{} for use * Connection types:: Types of connections made to remote machines. * Inline methods:: Inline methods. * External transfer methods:: External transfer methods. * Multi-hop Methods:: Connecting to a remote host using multiple hops. * Default Method:: Selecting a default method. * Customizing Methods:: Using Non-Standard Methods. * Remote Programs:: How @tramp{} finds and uses programs on the remote machine. * Remote shell setup:: Using @tramp * Filename Syntax:: @tramp{} filename conventions. * Multi-hop filename syntax:: Multi-hop filename conventions * Dired:: Dired and filename completion. The inner workings of remote version control * Version Controlled Files:: Determining if a file is under version control. * Remote Commands:: Executing the version control commands on the remote machine. * Changed workfiles:: Detecting if the working file has changed. * Checking out files:: Bringing the workfile out of the repository. * Miscellaneous Version Control:: Things related to Version Control that don't fit elsewhere Things related to Version Control that don't fit elsewhere * Remote File Ownership:: How VC determines who owns a workfile. * Back-end Versions:: How VC determines what release your RCS is. How file names, directories and paths are mangled and managed. * Path deconstruction:: Breaking a path into its components. @end detailmenu @end menu @node Overview @chapter An overview of @tramp @cindex overview After the installation of @tramp{} into your Emacs, you will be able to access files on remote machines as though they were local. Access to the remote file system for editing files, version control, and @command{dired} are transparently enabled. Your access to the remote machine can be with the @command{rsh}, @command{rlogin}, @command{telnet} programs or with any similar connection method. This connection must pass ASCII successfully to be usable but need not be 8-bit clean. The package provides support for @command{ssh} connections out of the box, one of the more common uses of the package. This allows relatively secure access to machines, especially if @command{ftp} access is disabled. The majority of activity carried out by @tramp{} requires only that the remote login is possible and is carried out at the terminal. In order to access remote files @tramp{} needs to transfer their content to the local machine temporarily. @tramp{} can transfer files between the machines in a variety of ways. The details are easy to select, depending on your needs and the machines in question. The fastest transfer methods (for large files) rely on a remote file transfer package such as @command{rcp}, @command{scp} or @command{rsync}. The use of these methods is only possible if the file copy command does not ask for a password for the remote machine. If the remote copy methods are not suitable for you, @tramp{} also supports the use of encoded transfers directly through the shell. This requires that the @command{mimencode} or @command{uuencode} tools are available on the remote machine. These methods are generally faster for small files. Within these limitations, @tramp{} is quite powerful. It is worth noting that, as of the time of writing, it is far from a polished end-user product. For a while yet you should expect to run into rough edges and problems with the code now and then. It is finished enough that the developers use it for day to day work but the installation and setup can be a little difficult to master, as can the terminology. @tramp{} is still under active development and any problems you encounter, trivial or major, should be reported to the @tramp{} developers. @xref{Bug Reports}. @subsubheading Behind the scenes @cindex behind the scenes @cindex details of operation @cindex how it works This section tries to explain what goes on behind the scenes when you access a remote file through @tramp{}. Suppose you type @kbd{C-x C-f} and enter part of an @tramp{} file name, then hit @kbd{@key{TAB}} for completion. Suppose further that this is the first time that @tramp{} is invoked for the host in question. Here's what happens: @itemize @item @tramp{} discovers that it needs a connection to the host. So it invokes @samp{telnet @var{host}} or @samp{rsh @var{host} -l @var{user}} or a similar tool to connect to the remote host. Communication with this process happens through an Emacs buffer, that is, the output from the remote end goes into a buffer. @item The remote host may prompt for a login name (for @command{telnet}). The login name is given in the file name, so @tramp{} sends the login name and a newline. @item The remote host may prompt for a password or pass phrase (for @command{rsh} or for @command{telnet} after sending the login name). @tramp{} displays the prompt in the minibuffer, asking you for the password or pass phrase. You enter the password or pass phrase. @tramp{} sends it to the remote host, followed by a newline. @item @tramp{} now waits for the shell prompt or for a message that the login failed. If @tramp{} sees neither of them after a certain period of time (a minute, say), then it issues an error message saying that it couldn't find the remote shell prompt and shows you what the remote host has sent. If @tramp{} sees a `login failed' message, it tells you so, aborts the login attempt and allows you to try again. @item Suppose that the login was successful and @tramp{} sees the shell prompt from the remote host. Now @tramp{} invokes @command{/bin/sh} because Bourne shells and C shells have different command syntaxes.@footnote{Invoking @command{/bin/sh} will fail if your login shell doesn't recognize @samp{exec /bin/sh} as a valid command. Maybe you use the Scheme shell @command{scsh}@dots{}} After the Bourne shell has come up, @tramp{} sends a few commands to ensure a good working environment. It turns off echoing, it sets the shell prompt, and a few other things. @item Now the remote shell is up and it good working order. Remember, what was supposed to happen is that @tramp{} tries to find out what files exist on the remote host so that it can do filename completion. So, @tramp{} basically issues @command{cd} and @command{ls} commands and also sometimes @command{echo} with globbing. Another command that is often used is @command{test} to find out whether a file is writable or a directory or the like. The output of each command is parsed for the necessary operation. @item Suppose you are finished with filename completion, have entered @kbd{C-x C-f}, a full file name and hit @kbd{@key{RET}}. Now comes the time to transfer the file contents from the remote host to the local host so that you can edit them. See above for an explanation of how @tramp{} transfers the file contents. For inline transfers, @tramp{} issues a command like @samp{mimencode -b /path/to/remote/file}, waits until the output has accumulated in the buffer that's used for communication, then decodes that output to produce the file contents. For out-of-band transfers, @tramp{} issues a command like @samp{rcp user@@host:/path/to/remote/file /tmp/tramp.4711} and then reads the local temporary file @file{/tmp/tramp.4711} into a buffer and deletes the temporary file. @item You now edit the buffer contents, blithely unaware of what has happened behind the scenes. (Unless you have read this section, that is.) When you are finished, you type @kbd{C-x C-s} to save the buffer. @item Again, @tramp{} transfers the file contents to the remote host either inline or out-of-band. This is the reverse of what happens when reading the file. @end itemize I hope this has provided you with a basic overview of what happens behind the scenes when you open a file with @tramp{}. @c For the end user @node Obtaining @tramp{} @chapter Obtaining @tramp{}. @cindex obtaining Tramp @tramp{} is freely available on the Internet and the latest release may be downloaded from @uref{ftp://ls6-ftp.cs.uni-dortmund.de/pub/src/emacs/tramp.tar.gz}. This release includes the full documentation and code for @tramp{}, suitable for installation. But Emacs (21.4 or later) includes @tramp{} already, and there is a @tramp{} package for XEmacs, as well. So maybe it is easier to just use those. But if you want the bleeding edge, read on@dots{...} For the especially brave, @tramp{} is available from CVS. The CVS version is the latest version of the code and may contain incomplete features or new issues. Use these versions at your own risk. Instructions for obtaining the latest development version of @tramp{} from CVS can be found by going to the Savannah project page at @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/tramp/} and then clicking on the CVS link in the navigation bar at the top. Or follow the example session below: @example ] @strong{cd ~/lisp} ] @strong{cvs -d:pserver:anoncvs@@subversions.gnu.org:/cvsroot/tramp login} (Logging in to anoncvs@@subversions.gnu.org) CVS password: @strong{(just hit RET here)} @dots{} ] @strong{cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anoncvs@@subversions.gnu.org:/cvsroot/tramp co tramp} @end example You should now have a directory @file{~/lisp/tramp} containing the latest version of @tramp{}. You can fetch the latest updates from the repository by issuing the command: @example ] @strong{cd ~/lisp/tramp} ] @strong{cvs update -d} @end example @node History @chapter History of @tramp{} @cindex history @cindex development history Development was started end of November 1998. The package was called @file{rssh.el}, back then. It only provided one method to access a file, using @command{ssh} to log in to a remote host and using @command{scp} to transfer the file contents. After a while, the name was changed to @file{rcp.el}, and now it's @tramp{}. Along the way, many more methods for getting a remote shell and for transferring the file contents were added. Support for VC was added. The most recent addition of major features were the multi-hop methods added in April 2000 and the unification of @tramp{} and Ange-FTP filenames in July 2002. @node Installation @chapter Installing @tramp{} into Emacs or XEmacs @cindex installation If you use the version that comes with your Emacs or the XEmacs package, the following information is not necessary. Installing @tramp{} into your Emacs or XEmacs is a relatively easy process, at least compared to rebuilding your machine from scratch. ;) Seriously though, the installation should be a fairly simple matter. The easiest way to proceed is as follows: @itemize @item Choose a directory, say @file{~/emacs/}. Change into that directory and unpack the tarball. This will give you a directory @file{~/emacs/tramp/} which contains subdirectories @file{lisp} for the Lisp code and @file{texi} for the documentation. @item Optionally byte-compile all files in the Lisp directory, @file{~/emacs/tramp/lisp/}, by issuing a command like the following from the top level directory @file{~/emacs/tramp/}: @example make EMACS=emacs all # for Emacs users make EMACS=xemacs all # for XEmacs users @end example @item NOTE: @example If you run into problems running the example @command{make} commands, don't dispare. You can still byte compile the @file{*.el} files by opening emacs in @command{dired} (@command{C-x d}) mode, at @file{~/tramp/lisp}. Mark the lisp files with @kbd{m}, then press @kbd{B} to byte compile your selections. Something similar can be done to create the info manual. Just cd to @file{~/emacs/tramp/texi} and load the @file{tramp.texi} file in emacs. Then press @kbd{M-x makeinfo-buffer <RET>} to generate @file{tramp.info}. @end example @item Tell Emacs about the new Lisp directory and the @tramp{} package with the following lines in @file{~/.emacs}: @lisp (add-to-list 'load-path "~/emacs/tramp/lisp/") (require 'tramp) @end lisp @item To be able to read the Info documentation, create a file @file{~/emacs/tramp/texi/dir} using for example the @command{install-info} command, and add the directory to the search path for Info. @item NOTE: @example On systems using `gnu' @command{install-info}, the @command{install-info} syntax is very direct and simple. One can cd to @file{~/emacs/tramp/texi} and type: @kbd{install-info tramp.info dir} and a @file{dir} file will be created with the @tramp{} entry. The info reader will know how to interpret it, but must be told where to find it (see below). If you want anything fancier you'll need to look through @kbd{man install-info}. Debian gnu/linux doesn't default to `gnu' @command{install-info} and uses its own version. This version does not create a @file{dir} file for you from scratch. You must provide a skeleton dir file it recognizes. One can be found in a default install at @file{/usr/info/dir}. Copy the top of this file down to the first occurrence of `* Menu' including that line plus one more blank line, to your working directory @file{texi/dir}, or use the sample provided in the @file{texi} directroy of this distribution. See @file{texi/dir_sample} Once a @file{dir} file is in place, this command will make the entry. install-info --infodir=. tramp.info If you want it in a specific category (see @kbd{man install-info} for further details) @end example If the environment variable @env{INFOPATH} is set, add the directory @file{~/emacs/tramp/texi/} to it. Else, add the directory to @code{Info-default-directory-list}, as follows: @lisp (add-to-list 'Info-default-directory-list "~/emacs/tramp/texi/") @end lisp XEmacs 21 users should use @code{Info-directory-list} rather than @code{Info-default-directory-list}. @end itemize For XEmacs users, the package @file{fsf-compat} must be installed. For details on package installation, see @ref{Packages, , ,xemacs}. @ifhtml (If the previous link doesn't work, try the XEmacs documentation at @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/packageGuide.html,the XEmacs site}.) @end ifhtml @node Configuration @chapter Configuring @tramp{} for use @cindex configuration @cindex default configuration @tramp{} is (normally) fully functional when it is initially installed. It is initially configured to use the @command{sh} program to connect to the remote host and to use base-64 encoding (on the remote host, via @command{mimencode}, and on the local host via the built-in support for base-64 encoding in Emacs). On some hosts, there are problems with opening a connection. These are related to the behavior of the remote shell. See @xref{Remote shell setup}, for details on this. If you do not wish to use these commands to connect to the remote host, you should change the default connection and transfer method that @tramp uses. There are several different methods that @tramp{} can use to connect to remote machines and transfer files (@pxref{Connection types}). @menu * Connection types:: Types of connections made to remote machines. * Inline methods:: Inline methods. * External transfer methods:: External transfer methods. * Multi-hop Methods:: Connecting to a remote host using multiple hops. * Default Method:: Selecting a default method. * Customizing Methods:: Using Non-Standard Methods. * Remote Programs:: How @tramp{} finds and uses programs on the remote machine. * Remote shell setup:: Remote shell setup hints. * Windows setup hints:: Issues with Cygwin ssh. @end menu @node Connection types @section Types of connections made to remote machines. @cindex connection types, overview There are two basic types of transfer methods, each with its own advantages and limitations. Both types of connection make use of a remote shell access program such as @command{rsh}, @command{ssh} or @command{telnet} to connect to the remote machine. This connection is used to perform many of the operations that @tramp requires to make the remote file system transparently accessible from the local machine. It is only when visiting files that the methods differ. @cindex inline methods @cindex external transfer methods @cindex external methods @cindex out-of-band methods @cindex methods, inline @cindex methods, external transfer @cindex methods, out-of-band Loading or saving a remote file requires that the content of the file be transfered between the two machines. The content of the file can be transfered over the same connection used to log in to the remote machine or the file can be transfered through another connection using a remote copy program such as @command{rcp}, @command{scp} or @command{rsync}. The former are called @dfn{inline methods}, the latter are called @dfn{out-of-band methods} or @dfn{external transfer methods} (@dfn{external methods} for short). The performance of the external transfer methods is generally better than that of the inline methods, at least for large files. This is caused by the need to encode and decode the data when transferring inline. The one exception to this rule are the @command{scp} based transfer methods. While these methods do see better performance when actually transferring files, the overhead of the cryptographic negotiation at startup may drown out the improvement in file transfer times. External transfer methods do require that the remote copy command is not interactive --- that is, the command does not prompt you for a password. If you cannot perform remote copies without a password, you will need to use an inline transfer method to work with @tramp{}. @cindex multi-hop methods @cindex methods, multi-hop A variant of the inline methods are the @dfn{multi-hop methods}. These methods allow you to connect a remote host using a number `hops', each of which connects to a different host. This is useful if you are in a secured network where you need to go through a bastion host to connect to the outside world. @node Inline methods @section Inline methods @cindex inline methods @cindex methods, inline The inline methods in @tramp{} are quite powerful and can work in situations where you cannot use an external transfer program to connect. Inline methods are the only methods that work when connecting to the remote machine via telnet. (There are also strange inline methods which allow you to transfer files between @emph{user identities} rather than hosts, see below.) These methods depend on the existence of a suitable encoding and decoding command on remote machine. Locally, @tramp{} may be able to use features of Emacs to decode and encode the files or it may require access to external commands to perform that task. @cindex uuencode @tramp{} supports the use of @command{uuencode} to transfer files. This is @emph{not} recommended. The @command{uuencode} and @command{uudecode} commands are not well standardized and may not function correctly or at all on some machines, notably AIX and IRIX. These systems do not work with @command{uuencode} at all. (But do see the note about AIX in the documentation for @var{tramp-methods}.) @cindex mimencode @cindex base-64 encoding In summary, if possible use the @command{mimencode} methods to transfer the data base64 encoded. This has the advantage of using a built-in command in every modern Emacs, improving performance. @table @asis @item @option{rm} --- @command{rsh} with @command{mimencode} @cindex method rm @cindex rm method @cindex method using rsh (rm) Connect to the remote host with @command{rsh} and use base64 encoding to transfer files between the machines. This requires the @command{mimencode} command that is part of the @command{metamail} packages. This may not be installed on all remote machines. @item @option{sm} --- @command{ssh} with @command{mimencode} @cindex method sm @cindex sm method @cindex method using ssh (sm) @cindex ssh (with sm method) @cindex mimencode (with sm method) @cindex base-64 encoding (with sm method) Connect to the remote host with @command{ssh} and use base64 encoding to transfer files between the machines. This is identical to the previous option except that the @command{ssh} package is used, making the connection more secure. There are also two variants, @option{sm1} and @option{sm2}, that call @samp{ssh -1} and @samp{ssh -2}, respectively. This way, you can explicitly select whether you want to use the SSH protocol version 1 or 2 to connect to the remote host. (You can also specify in @file{~/.ssh/config}, the SSH configuration file, which protocol should be used, and use the regular @option{sm} method.) There are also two variants, @option{sm-ssh1} and @option{sm-ssh2} that use the @command{ssh1} and @command{ssh2} commands explicitly. If you don't know what these are, you do not need these options. All the methods based on @command{ssh} have an additional kludgy feature: you can specify a host name which looks like @file{host#42} (the real host name, then a hash sign, then a port number). This means to connect to the given host but to also pass @code{-p 42} as arguments to the @command{ssh} command. @item @option{tm} --- @command{telnet} with @command{mimencode} @cindex method tm @cindex tm method @cindex method using telnet (tm) @cindex telnet (with tm method) @cindex mimencode (with tm method) @cindex base-64 encoding (with tm method) Connect to the remote host with @command{telnet} and use base64 encoding to transfer files between the machines. This requires the @command{mimencode} command that is part of the @command{metamail} packages. @item @option{ru} --- @command{rsh} with @command{uuencode} @cindex method ru @cindex ru method @cindex method using rsh @cindex rsh (with ru method) @cindex uuencode (with ru method) Connect to the remote host with @command{rsh} and use the @command{uuencode} and @command{uudecode} commands to transfer files between the machines. @item @option{su} --- @command{ssh} with @command{uuencode} @cindex method su @cindex su method @cindex method using ssh (su) @cindex ssh (with su method) @cindex uuencode (with su method) Connect to the remote host with @command{ssh} and use the @command{uuencode} and @command{uudecode} commands to transfer files between the machines. As with the @command{ssh} and base64 option (@option{sm}) above, this provides the @option{su1} and @option{su2} methods to explicitly select an SSH protocol version, and the @option{su-ssh1} and @option{su-ssh2} variants to call specific SSH binaries. Note that this method does not invoke the @command{su} program, see below for methods which use that. This supports the @samp{-p} kludge. @item @option{tu} --- @command{telnet} with @command{uuencode} @cindex tu method @cindex method tu @cindex method using telnet (tu) @cindex telnet (with tu method) @cindex uuencode (with tu method) Connect to the remote host with @command{telnet} and use the @command{uuencode} and @command{uudecode} commands to transfer files between the machines. @item @option{sum} --- @command{su} with @command{mimencode} @cindex method sum @cindex sum method @cindex method using su (sum) @cindex su (with sum method) @cindex mimencode (with sum method) @cindex base-64 encoding (with sum method) This method does not connect to a remote host at all, rather it uses the @command{su} program to allow you to edit files as another user. Uses base64 encoding to transfer the file contents. @item @option{suu} --- @command{su} with @command{uuencode} @cindex method suu @cindex suu method @cindex method using su (suu) @cindex su (with suu method) @cindex uuencode (with suu method) Like @option{sum}, this uses the @command{su} program to allow you to edit files on the local host as another user. Uses @command{uuencode} and @command{uudecode} to transfer the file contents. @item @option{sudm} --- @command{sudo} with @command{mimencode} @cindex method sudm @cindex sudm method @cindex method using sudo (sudm) @cindex sudo (with sudm method) @cindex mimencode (with sudm method) @cindex base-64 encoding (with sudm method) This is similar to the @option{sum} method, but it uses @command{sudo} rather than @command{su} to become a different user. Note that @command{sudo} must be configured to allow you to start a shell as the user. It would be nice if it was sufficient if @command{ls} and @command{mimencode} were allowed, but that is not easy to implement, so I haven't got around to it, yet. @item @option{sudu} --- @command{sudo} with @command{uuencode} @cindex method sudu @cindex sudu method @cindex method using sudo (sudu) @cindex sudo (with sudu method) @cindex uuencode (with sudu method) This is similar to the @option{suu} method, but it uses @command{sudo} rather than @command{su} to become a different user. @item @option{smx} --- @command{ssh} with @command{mimencode} @cindex method smx @cindex smx method @cindex method using ssh (smx) @cindex ssh (with smx method) @cindex mimencode (with smx method) @cindex base-64 encoding (with smx method) @cindex Cygwin (with smx method) As you expect, this is similar to @option{sm}, only a little different. Whereas @option{sm} opens a normal interactive shell on the remote host, this option uses @samp{ssh -t -t @var{host} -l @var{user} /bin/sh} tp open a connection. This is useful for users where the normal login shell is set up to ask them a number of questions when logging in. This procedure avoids these questions, and just gives @tramp{} a more-or-less `standard' login shell to work with. Note that this procedure does not eliminate questions asked by @command{ssh} itself. For example, @command{ssh} might ask ``Are you sure you want to continue connecting?'' if the host key of the remote host is not known. Tramp does not know how to deal with such a question (yet), therefore you will need to make sure that you can log in without such questions. This is also useful for Windows users where @command{ssh}, when invoked from an Emacs buffer, tells them that it is not allocating a pseudo tty. When this happens, the login shell is wont to not print any shell prompt, which confuses @tramp{} mightily. For reasons unknown, some Windows ports for @command{ssh} (maybe the Cygwin one) require the doubled @samp{-t} option. This supports the @samp{-p} kludge. @item @option{km} --- @command{krlogin} with @command{mimencode} @cindex method km @cindex km method @cindex krlogin (with km method) @cindex Kerberos (with km method) @cindex mimencode (with km method) @cindex base-64 encoding (with km method) This method is also similar to @option{sm}. It only uses the @command{krlogin -x} command to log in to the remote host. @item @option{plinku} --- @command{plink} with @command{uuencode} @cindex method plinku @cindex plinku method @cindex method using plink (plinku) @cindex plink (with plinku method) @cindex uuencode (with plinku method) This method is mostly interesting for Windows users using the PuTTY implementation of SSH. It uses @samp{plink -ssh} to log in to the remote host. CCC: Do we have to connect to the remote host once from the command line to accept the SSH key? Maybe this can be made automatic? CCC: Does @command{plink} support the @samp{-p} option? Tramp will support that, anyway. @item @option{plinkm} --- @command{plink} with @command{mimencode} @cindex method plinkm @cindex plinkm method @cindex method using plink (plinkm) @cindex plink (with plinkm method) @cindex mimencode (with plinkm method) @cindex base-64 encoding (with plinkm method) Like @option{plinku}, but uses base64 encoding instead of uu encoding. @end table @node External transfer methods @section External transfer methods @cindex methods, external transfer @cindex methods, out-of-band @cindex external transfer methods @cindex out-of-band methods The external transfer methods operate through multiple channels, using the remote shell connection for many actions while delegating file transfers to an external transfer utility. This saves the overhead of encoding and decoding that multiplexing the transfer through the one connection has with the inline methods. If you want to use an external transfer method you @emph{must} be able to execute the transfer utility to copy files to and from the remote machine without any interaction. @cindex ssh-agent This means that you will need to use @command{ssh-agent} if you use the @command{scp} program for transfers, or maybe your version of @command{scp} accepts a password on the command line.@footnote{PuTTY's @command{pscp} allows you to specify the password on the command line.} If you use @command{rsync} via @command{ssh} then the same rule must apply to that connection. If you cannot get @command{scp} to run without asking for a password but would still like to use @command{ssh} to secure your connection, have a look at the @command{ssh} based inline methods. @table @asis @item @option{rcp} --- @command{rsh} and @command{rcp} @cindex method rcp @cindex rcp method @cindex rcp (with rcp method) @cindex rsh (with rcp method) This method uses the @command{rsh} and @command{rcp} commands to connect to the remote machine and transfer files. This is probably the fastest connection method available. @item @option{scp} --- @command{ssh} and @command{scp} @cindex method scp @cindex scp method @cindex scp (with scp method) @cindex ssh (with scp method) Using @command{ssh} to connect to the remote host and @command{scp} to transfer files between the machines is the best method for securely connecting to a remote machine and accessing files. The performance of this option is also quite good. It may be slower than the inline methods when you often open and close small files however. The cost of the cryptographic handshake at the start of an @command{scp} session can begin to absorb the advantage that the lack of encoding and decoding presents. All the @command{ssh} based methods support the kludgy @samp{-p} feature where you can specify a port number to connect to in the host name. For example, the host name @file{host#42} tells Tramp to specify @samp{-p 42} in the argument list for @command{ssh}. @item @option{rsync} --- @command{ssh} and @command{rsync} @cindex method rsync @cindex rsync method @cindex rsync (with rsync method) @cindex ssh (with rsync method) Using the @command{ssh} command to connect securely to the remote machine and the @command{rsync} command to transfer files is almost identical to the @option{scp} method. While @command{rsync} performs much better than @command{scp} when transferring files that exist on both hosts, this advantage is lost if the file exists only on one side of the connection. The @command{rsync} based method may be considerably faster than the @command{rcp} based methods when writing to the remote system. Reading files to the local machine is no faster than with a direct copy. This method supports the @samp{-p} hack. @item @option{scpx} --- @command{ssh} and @command{scp} @cindex method scpx @cindex scpx method @cindex scp (with scpx method) @cindex ssh (with scpx method) @cindex Cygwin (with scpx method) As you expect, this is similar to @option{scp}, only a little different. Whereas @option{scp} opens a normal interactive shell on the remote host, this option uses @samp{ssh -t -t @var{host} -l @var{user} /bin/sh} to open a connection. This is useful for users where the normal login shell is set up to ask them a number of questions when logging in. This procedure avoids these questions, and just gives @tramp{} a more-or-less `standard' login shell to work with. This is also useful for Windows users where @command{ssh}, when invoked from an Emacs buffer, tells them that it is not allocating a pseudo tty. When this happens, the login shell is wont to not print any shell prompt, which confuses @tramp{} mightily. Maybe this applies to the Cygwin port of SSH. This method supports the @samp{-p} hack. @item @option{pscp} --- @command{plink} and @command{pscp} @cindex method pscp @cindex pscp method @cindex pscp (with pscp method) @cindex plink (with pscp method) @cindex PuTTY (with pscp method) This method is similar to @option{scp}, but it uses the @command{plink} command to connect to the remote host, and it uses @command{pscp} for transferring the files. These programs are part of PuTTY, an SSH implementation for Windows. CCC: Does @command{plink} support the @samp{-p} hack? @item @option{fcp} --- @command{fsh} and @command{fcp} @cindex method fcp @cindex fcp method @cindex fsh (with fcp method) @cindex fcp (with fcp method) This method is similar to @option{scp}, but it uses the @command{fsh} command to connect to the remote host, and it uses @command{fcp} for transferring the files. @command{fsh/fcp} are a front-end for @command{ssh} which allow for reusing the same @command{ssh} session for submitting several commands. This avoids the startup overhead of @command{scp} (which has to establish a secure connection whenever it is called). Note, however, that you can also use one of the inline methods to achieve a similar effect. This method uses the command @samp{fsh @var{host} -l @var{user} /bin/sh -i} to establish the connection, it does not work to just say @command{fsh @var{host} -l @var{user}}. @cindex method fsh @cindex fsh method There is no inline method using @command{fsh} as the multiplexing provided by the program is not very useful in our context. @tramp{} opens just one connection to the remote host and then keeps it open, anyway. @end table @node Multi-hop Methods @section Connecting to a remote host using multiple hops @cindex multi-hop methods @cindex methods, multi-hop Sometimes, the methods described before are not sufficient. Sometimes, it is not possible to connect to a remote host using a simple command. For example, if you are in a secured network, you might have to log in to a `bastion host' first before you can connect to the outside world. Of course, the target host may also require a bastion host. The format of multi-hop filenames is slightly different than the format of normal @tramp{} methods. A multi-hop file name specifies a method, a number of hops, and a path name on the remote system. The method specifies how the file is transferred through the inline connection. The following two multi-hop methods are available: @table @asis @item @option{multi} --- base64 encoding with @command{mimencode} @cindex method multi @cindex multi method @cindex mimencode (with multi method) @cindex base-64 encoding (with multi method) The file is transferred through the connection in base64 encoding. Uses the @command{mimencode} program for doing encoding and decoding, but uses an Emacs internal implementation on the local host if available. @item @option{multiu} --- use commands @command{uuencode} and @command{uudecode} @cindex method multiu @cindex multiu method @cindex uuencode (with multiu method) The file is transferred through the connection in `uu' encoding. Uses the @command{uuencode} and @command{uudecode} programs for encoding and decoding, but uses a Lisp implementation for decoding on the local host if available. @end table Each hop consists of a @dfn{hop method} specification, a user name and a host name. The following hop methods are (currently) available: @table @option @item telnet @cindex hop method telnet @cindex telnet hop method Uses the well-known @command{telnet} program to connect to the host. Whereas user name and host name are supplied in the file name, the user is queried for the password. @item rsh @cindex hop method rsh @cindex rsh hop method This uses @command{rsh} to connect to the host. You do not need to enter a password unless @command{rsh} explicitly asks for it. @item ssh @cindex hop method ssh @cindex ssh hop method This uses @command{ssh} to connect to the host. You might have to enter a password or a pass phrase. @item su @cindex hop method su @cindex su hop method This method does not actually contact a different host, but it allows you to become a different user on the host you're currently on. This might be useful if you want to edit files as root, but the remote host does not allow remote root logins. In this case you can use @option{telnet}, @option{rsh} or @option{ssh} to connect to the remote host as a non-root user, then use an @option{su} hop to become root. But @option{su} need not be the last hop in a sequence, you could also use it somewhere in the middle, if the need arises. Even though you @emph{must} specify both user and host with a @option{su} hop, the host name is ignored and only the user name is used. @item sudo @cindex hop method sudo @cindex sudo hop method This is similar to the @option{su} hop, except that it uses @command{sudo} rather than @command{su} to become a different user. @end table Some people might wish to use port forwarding with @command{ssh} or maybe they have to use a nonstandard port. This can be accomplished by putting a stanza in @file{~/.ssh/config} for the account which specifies a different port number for a certain host name. But it can also be accomplished within Tramp, by adding a multi-hop method. For example: @lisp (add-to-list 'tramp-multi-connection-function-alist '("sshf" tramp-multi-connect-rlogin "ssh %h -l %u -p 4400%n")) @end lisp Now you can use a @code{sshf} hop which connects to port 4400 instead of the standard port. @node Default Method @section Selecting a default method @cindex default method @vindex tramp-default-method When you select an appropriate transfer method for your typical usage you should set the variable @var{tramp-default-method} to reflect that choice. This variable controls which method will be used when a method is not specified in the @tramp{} file path. For example: @lisp (setq tramp-default-method "scp") @end lisp @vindex tramp-default-method-alist You can also specify different methods for certain user/host combinations, via the variable @var{tramp-default-method-alist}. For example, the following two lines specify to use the @option{sm} method for all user names matching @samp{john} and the @option{rsync} method for all host names matching @samp{lily}. The third line specifies to use the @option{sum} method for the user @samp{root} on the machine @samp{localhost}. @lisp (add-to-list 'tramp-default-method-alist '("" "john" "sm")) (add-to-list 'tramp-default-method-alist '("lily" "" "rsync")) (add-to-list 'tramp-default-method-alist '("\\`root\\'" "\\`localhost\\'" "sum")) @end lisp @noindent See the documentation for the variable @var{tramp-default-method-alist} for more details. External transfer methods are normally preferable to inline transfer methods, giving better performance. They may not be useful if you use many remote machines where you cannot log in without a password. @xref{Inline methods}. @xref{External transfer methods}. @xref{Multi-hop Methods}. Another consideration with the selection of transfer methods is the environment you will use them in and, especially when used over the Internet, the security implications of your preferred method. The @command{rsh} and @command{telnet} methods send your password as plain text as you log in to the remote machine, as well as transferring the files in such a way that the content can easily be read from other machines. If you need to connect to remote systems that are accessible from the Internet, you should give serious thought to using @command{ssh} based methods to connect. These provide a much higher level of security, making it a non-trivial exercise for someone to obtain your password or read the content of the files you are editing. @node Customizing Methods @section Using Non-Standard Methods @cindex customizing methods @cindex using non-standard methods @cindex create your own methods There is a variable @code{tramp-methods} which you can change if the predefined methods don't seem right. For the time being, I'll refer you to the Lisp documentation of that variable, accessible with @kbd{C-h v tramp-methods @key{RET}}. @node Remote Programs @section How @tramp{} finds and uses programs on the remote machine. @tramp{} depends on a number of programs on the remote host in order to function, including @command{ls}, @command{test}, @command{find} and @command{cat}. In addition to these required tools, there are various tools that may be required based on the connection method. See @ref{Inline methods} and @ref{External transfer methods} for details on these. Certain other tools, such as @command{perl} (or @command{perl5}) and @command{grep} will be used if they can be found. When they are available, they are used to improve the performance and accuracy of remote file access. @vindex tramp-remote-path When @tramp{} connects to the remote machine, it searches for the programs that it can use. The variable @var{tramp-remote-path} controls the directories searched on the remote machine. By default, this is set to a reasonable set of defaults for most machines. It is possible, however, that your local (or remote ;) system administrator has put the tools you want in some obscure local directory. In this case, you can still use them with @tramp{}. You simply need to add code to your @file{.emacs} to add the directory to the remote path. This will then be searched by @tramp{} when you connect and the software found. To add a directory to the remote search path, you could use code such as: @example (require 'tramp) @i{; @tramp{} must be loaded before this} @i{; happens.} @i{; We have @command{perl} in "/usr/local/perl/bin"} (add-to-list 'tramp-remote-path "/usr/local/perl/bin") @end example @node Remote shell setup @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section Remote shell setup hints @cindex remote shell setup @cindex @file{.profile} file @cindex @file{.login} file @cindex shell init files As explained in the @ref{Overview} section, @tramp{} connects to the remote host and talks to the shell it finds there. Of course, when you log in, the shell executes its init files. Suppose your init file requires you to enter the birthdate of your mother; clearly @tramp{} does not know this and hence fails to log you in to that host. There are different possible strategies for pursuing this problem. One strategy is to enable @tramp{} to deal with all possible situations. This is a losing battle, since it is not possible to deal with @emph{all} situations. The other strategy is to require you to set up the remote host such that it behaves like @tramp{} expect. This might be inconvenient because you have to invest a lot of effort into shell setup before you can begin to use @tramp{}. The package, therefore, pursues a combined approach. It tries to figure out some of the more common setups, and only requires you to avoid really exotic stuff. For example, it looks through a list of directories to find some programs on the remote host. And also, it knows that it is not obvious how to check whether a file exist, and therefore it tries different possibilities. (On some hosts and shells, the command @code{test -e} does the trick, on some hosts the shell builtin doesn't work but the program @code{/usr/bin/test -e} or @code{/bin/test -e} works. And on still other hosts, @code{ls -d} is the right way to do this.) Below you find a discussion of a few things that @tramp{} does not deal with, and that you therefore have to set up correctly. @table @asis @item @var{shell-prompt-pattern} @vindex shell-prompt-pattern After logging in to the remote host, @tramp{} has to wait for the remote shell startup to finish before it can send commands to the remote shell. The strategy here is to wait for the shell prompt. In order to recognize the shell prompt, the variable @code{shell-prompt-pattern} has to be set correctly to recognize the shell prompt on the remote host. Note that Tramp requires the match for @code{shell-prompt-pattern} to be at the end of the buffer. Many people have something like the following as the value for the variable: @code{"^[^>$][>$] *"}. Now suppose your shell prompt is @code{a <b> c $ }. In this case, Tramp recognizes the @code{>} character as the end of the prompt, but it is not at the end of the buffer. @item @code{tset} and other questions @cindex Unix command tset @cindex tset Unix command Some people invoke the @code{tset} program from their shell startup scripts which asks the user about the terminal type of the shell. Maybe some shells ask other questions when they are started. @tramp{} does not know how to answer these questions. (A facility for enabling @tramp{} to answer these questions is planned for some future version, but don't hold your breath.) Therefore, you should take care that the shell does not ask any questions when invoked from @tramp{}. You can do this by checking the @code{TERM} environment variable, it will be set to @code{dumb} when connecting. @vindex tramp-terminal-type The variable @code{tramp-terminal-type} can be used to change this value @code{dumb}. @end table @node Windows setup hints @section Issues with Cygwin ssh @cindex Cygwin, issues This section needs a lot of work! Please help. @cindex method smx with Cygwin @cindex smx method with Cygwin If you use the Cygwin installation of ssh (you have to explicitly select it in the installer), then it should work out of the box to just select @code{smx} as the connection method. You can find information about setting up Cygwin in their FAQ at @uref{http://cygwin.com/faq/}. @node Usage @chapter Using @tramp @cindex using @tramp Once you have installed @tramp{} it will operate fairly transparently. You will be able to access files on any remote machine that you can log in to as though they were local. Files are specified to @tramp{} using a formalized syntax specifying the details of the system to connect to. This is similar to the syntax used by the @command{EFS} and @command{Ange-FTP} packages. @menu * Filename Syntax:: @tramp{} filename conventions. * Multi-hop filename syntax:: Multi-hop filename conventions * Dired:: Dired and filename completion. @end menu @node Filename Syntax @section @tramp{} filename conventions @cindex filename syntax @cindex filename examples On Emacs, the Ange-FTP and Tramp filenames use a unified syntax. On XEmacs, EFS and Tramp use different formats for the filenames. Therefore, the following will describe the Emacs and XEmacs cases separately. On Emacs, to access the file @var{path} on the remote machine @var{machine} you would specify the filename @file{/@var{machine}:@var{path}}. This will connect to @var{machine} and transfer the file using the default method. @xref{Default Method}. On XEmacs, use @file{/[@var{machine}]@var{path}}. (The square brackets are part of the file name.) Some examples of @tramp{} filenames are shown below. In each case, the Emacs-style filename is shown first, then the XEmacs-style filename. @table @file @item /melancholia:.emacs @itemx /[melancholia].emacs Edit the file @file{.emacs} in your home directory on the machine @code{melancholia}. @item /melancholia.danann.net:.emacs @itemx /[melancholia.danann.net].emacs This edits the same file, using the fully qualified domain name of the machine. @item /melancholia:~/.emacs @itemx /[melancholia]~/.emacs This also edits the same file --- the @file{~} is expanded to your home directory on the remote machine, just like it is locally. @item /melancholia:~daniel/.emacs @itemx /[melancholia]~daniel/.emacs This edits the file @file{.emacs} in the home directory of the user @code{daniel} on the machine @code{melancholia}. The @file{~<user>} construct is expanded to the home directory of that user on the remote machine. @item /melancholia:/etc/squid.conf @itemx /[melancholia]/etc/squid.conf This edits the file @file{/etc/squid.conf} on the machine @code{melancholia}. @end table Unless you specify a different name to use, @tramp{} will use the current local user name as the remote user name to log in with. If you need to log in as a different user, you can specify the user name as part of the filename. On Emacs, to log in to the remote machine as a specific user, you use the syntax @file{/@var{user}@@@var{machine}:/path/to.file}. On XEmacs, use @file{/[@var{user}@@@var{machine}]/path/to.file}. That means that connecting to @code{melancholia} as @code{daniel} and editing @file{.emacs} in your home directory you would specify @file{/daniel@@melancholia:.emacs} on Emacs and @file{/[daniel@@melancholia].emacs} on XEmacs. It is also possible to specify other file transfer methods (@pxref{Default Method}) as part of the filename. On Emacs, this is done by puttig the method before the user and host name, as in @file{/@var{method}:} (note the trailing colon). On XEmacs, it is done by replacing the initial @file{/[} with @file{/[<method>/}. (Note the trailing slash!) The user, machine and file specification remain the same. So, to connect to the machine @code{melancholia} as @code{daniel}, using the @option{su} method to transfer files, and edit @file{.emacs} in my home directory I would specify the filename @file{/su:daniel@@melancholia:.emacs} on Emacs and @file{/[su/daniel@@melancholia].emacs} on XEmacs. @node Multi-hop filename syntax @section Multi-hop filename conventions @cindex filename syntax for multi-hop files @cindex multi-hop filename syntax The syntax of multi-hop file names is necessarily slightly different than the syntax of other @tramp{} file names. Here's an example multi-hop file name, first in Emacs syntax and then in XEmacs syntax: @file{/multi:rsh:out@@gate:telnet:kai@@real.host:/path/to.file} @file{/[multi/rsh:out@@gate/telnet:kai@@real.host]/path/to.file} This is quite a mouthful. So let's go through it step by step. The file name consists of three parts. On Emacs, the parts are separated by colons, on XEmacs they are separated by slashes and square brackets. The first part is @file{/multi:} (or @file{/[multi}), the method specification. The second part is @file{rsh:out@@gate:telnet:kai@@real.host} (or @file{rsh:out@@gate/telnet:kai@@real.host}) and specifies the hops. (Yes, on Emacs the second part may contain even more colons, so that's why this file name has more than two colons in it.) The final part is @file{/path/to.file} and specifies the file name on the remote host. The first part and the final part should be clear. @ref{Multi-hop Methods}, for a list of alternatives for the method specification. The second part can be subdivided again into components, so-called hops. In the above file name, there are two hops, @file{rsh:out@@gate} and @file{telnet:kai@@real.host}. Each hop can @emph{again} be subdivided into (three) components, the @dfn{hop method}, the @dfn{user name} and the @dfn{host name}. The meaning of the second and third component should be clear, and the hop method says what program to use to perform that hop. The first hop, @file{rsh:out@@gate}, says to use @command{rsh} to log in as user @code{out} to the host @code{gate}. Starting at that host, the second hop, @file{telnet:kai@@real.host}, says to use @command{telnet} to log in as user @code{kai} to host @code{real.host}. @xref{Multi-hop Methods}, for a list of possible hop method values. The variable @var{tramp-multi-connection-function-alist} contains the list of possible hop methods and information on how to execute them, should you want to add your own. @node Dired @section Dired and filename completion @cindex dired @cindex filename completion @tramp{} works transparently with dired, enabling you to use this powerful file management tool to manage files on any machine you have access to over the Internet. Filename completion also works with @tramp{} for files on remote machines although there is no completion for user names or machine names at this stage. As filename completion needs to fetch the listing of files from the remote machine, this feature is sometimes fairly slow. As @tramp{} does not yet cache the results of directory listing, there is no gain in performance the second time you complete filenames. If you need to browse a directory tree, Dired is a better choice, at present, than filename completion. Dired has its own cache mechanism and will only fetch the directory listing once. @node Bug Reports @chapter Reporting Bugs and Problems @cindex bug reports Bugs and problems with @tramp{} are actively worked on by the development team. Feature requests and suggestions are also more than welcome. The @tramp{} mailing list is a great place to get information on working with @tramp{}, solving problems and general discussion and advice on topics relating to the package. The mailing list is at @email{tramp-devel@@mail.freesoftware.fsf.org}. Messages sent to this address go to all the subscribers. This is @emph{not} the address to send subscription requests to. For help on subscribing to the list, send mail to the administrative address, @email{tramp-devel-request@@mail.freesoftware.fsf.org}, with the subject @samp{help}. To report a bug in @tramp{}, you should execute @kbd{M-x tramp-bug}. This will automatically generate a buffer with the details of your system and @tramp{} version. When submitting a bug report, please try to describe in excruciating detail the steps required to reproduce the problem, the setup of the remote machine and any special conditions that exist. If you can identify a minimal test case that reproduces the problem, include that with your bug report. This will make it much easier for the development team to analyze and correct the problem. @node Frequently Asked Questions @chapter Frequently Asked Questions @cindex frequently asked questions @cindex FAQ @itemize @bullet @item Where can I get the latest @tramp{}? @tramp{} is available at @uref{ftp://ls6-ftp.cs.uni-dortmund.de/pub/src/emacs/tramp.tar.gz}. There is also a Savannah project page, at @uref{https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/tramp/}. @item Which systems does it work on? The package has been used successfully on Emacs 20 and Emacs 21, as well as XEmacs 21. XEmacs 20 is more problematic, see the notes in @file{tramp.el}. I don't think anybody has really tried it on Emacs 19. The package was intended to work on Unix, and it really expects a Unix-like system on the remote end, but some people seemed to have some success getting it to work on NT Emacs. There are some informations on Tramp on NT at the following URL; many thanks to Joe Stoy for providing the information: @uref{ftp://ftp.comlab.ox.ac.uk/tmp/Joe.Stoy/} The above mostly contains patches to old ssh versions; Tom Roche has a Web page with instructions: @uref{http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tlroche/plinkTramp.html} ??? Is the XEmacs info correct? ??? Can somebody provide some information for getting it to work on NT Emacs? I think there was some issue with @command{ssh}? @item I can't stop EFS starting with XEmacs Not all the older versions of @tramp{} supported XEmacs correctly. The first thing to do is to make sure that you have the latest version of @tramp{} installed. If you do, please try and find out exactly the conditions required for the @code{EFS} handlers to fire. If you can, putting a breakpoint on @code{efs-ftp-path} and sending in the stack trace along with your bug report would make it easier for the developers to work out what is going wrong. @item File name completion does not work with @tramp{} When you log in to the remote machine, do you see the output of @command{ls} in color? If so, this may be the cause of your problems. @command{ls} outputs @acronym{ANSI} escape sequences that your terminal emulator interprets to set the colors. These escape sequences will confuse @tramp{} however. In your @file{.bashrc}, @file{.profile} or equivalent on the remote machine you probably have an alias configured that adds the option @option{--color=yes} or @option{--color=auto}. You should remove that alias and ensure that a new login @emph{does not} display the output of @command{ls} in color. If you still cannot use filename completion, report a bug to the @tramp{} developers. @item File name completion does not work in large directories @tramp{} uses globbing for some operations. (Globbing means to use the shell to expand wildcards such as `*.c'.) This might create long command lines, especially in directories with many files. Some shell choke on long command lines, or don't cope well with the globbing itself. If you have a large directory on the remote end, you may wish to execute a command like @samp{ls -d * ..?* > /dev/null} and see if it hangs. Note that you must first start the right shell, which might be @command{/bin/sh}, @command{ksh} or @command{bash}, depending on which of those supports tilde expansion. @item What kinds of systems does @tramp{} work on @tramp{} really expects the remote system to be a Unix-like system. The local system should preferably be Unix-like, as well, but @tramp{} might work on NT with some tweaking. @item How can I get notified when @tramp{} file transfers are complete? The following snippet can be put in your @file{~/.emacs} file. It makes Emacs beep after reading from or writing to the remote host. @lisp (defadvice tramp-handle-write-region (after tramp-write-beep-advice activate) " make tramp beep after writing a file." (interactive) (beep)) (defadvice tramp-handle-do-copy-or-rename-file (after tramp-copy-beep-advice activate) " make tramp beep after copying a file." (interactive) (beep)) (defadvice tramp-handle-insert-file-contents (after tramp-copy-beep-advice activate) " make tramp beep after copying a file." (interactive) (beep)) @end lisp @item There's this @file{~/.sh_history} file on the remote host which keeps growing and growing. What's that? Sometimes, @tramp{} starts @code{ksh} on the remote host for tilde expansion. Maybe @code{ksh} saves the history by default. @tramp{} tries to turn off saving the history, but maybe you have to help. For example, you could put this in your @file{.kshrc}: @example if [ -f $HOME/.sh_history ] ; then /bin/rm $HOME/.sh_history fi if [ "$@{HISTFILE-unset@}" != "unset" ] ; then unset HISTFILE fi if [ "$@{HISTSIZE-unset@}" != "unset" ] ; then unset HISTSIZE fi @end example @end itemize @c For the developer @node Version Control @chapter The inner workings of remote version control Unlike EFS and Ange-FTP, @tramp{} has full shell access to the remote machine. This makes it possible to provide version control for files accessed under @tramp{}. The actual version control binaries must be installed on the remote machine, accessible in the directories specified in @var{tramp-remote-path}. This transparent integration with the version control systems is one of the most valuable features provided by @tramp{}, but it is far from perfect. Work is ongoing to improve the transparency of the system. @menu * Version Controlled Files:: Determining if a file is under version control. * Remote Commands:: Executing the version control commands on the remote machine. * Changed workfiles:: Detecting if the working file has changed. * Checking out files:: Bringing the workfile out of the repository. * Miscellaneous Version Control:: Things related to Version Control that don't fit elsewhere @end menu @node Version Controlled Files @section Determining if a file is under version control The VC package uses the existence of on-disk revision control master files to determine if a given file is under revision control. These file tests happen on the remote machine through the standard @tramp{} mechanisms. @node Remote Commands @section Executing the version control commands on the remote machine There are no hooks provided by VC to allow intercepting of the version control command execution. The calls occur through the @code{call-process} mechanism, a function that is somewhat more efficient than the @code{shell-command} function but that does not provide hooks for remote execution of commands. To work around this, the functions @code{vc-do-command} and @code{vc-simple-command} have been advised to intercept requests for operations on files accessed via @tramp{}. In the case of a remote file, the @code{shell-command} interface is used, with some wrapper code, to provide the same functionality on the remote machine as would be seen on the local machine. @node Changed workfiles @section Detecting if the working file has changed As there is currently no way to get access to the mtime of a file on a remote machine in a portable way, the @code{vc-workfile-unchanged-p} function is advised to call an @tramp{} specific function for remote files. The @code{tramp-vc-workfile-unchanged-p} function uses the functioning VC diff functionality to determine if any changes have occurred between the workfile and the version control master. This requires that a shell command be executed remotely, a process that is notably heavier-weight than the mtime comparison used for local files. Unfortunately, unless a portable solution to the issue is found, this will remain the cost of remote version control. @node Checking out files @section Bringing the workfile out of the repository VC will, by default, check for remote files and refuse to act on them when checking out files from the repository. To work around this problem, the function @code{vc-checkout} knows about @tramp{} files and allows version control to occur. @node Miscellaneous Version Control @section Things related to Version Control that don't fit elsewhere Minor implementation details, &c. @menu * Remote File Ownership:: How VC determines who owns a workfile. * Back-end Versions:: How VC determines what release your RCS is. @end menu @node Remote File Ownership @subsection How VC determines who owns a workfile Emacs provides the @code{user-full-name} function to return the login name of the current user as well as mapping from arbitrary user id values back to login names. The VC code uses this functionality to map from the uid of the owner of a workfile to the login name in some circumstances. This will not, for obvious reasons, work if the remote system has a different set of logins. As such, it is necessary to delegate to the remote machine the job of determining the login name associated with a uid. Unfortunately, with the profusion of distributed management systems such as @code{NIS}, @code{NIS+} and @code{NetInfo}, there is no simple, reliable and portable method for performing this mapping. Thankfully, the only place in the VC code that depends on the mapping of a uid to a login name is the @code{vc-file-owner} function. This returns the login of the owner of the file as a string. This function has been advised to use the output of @command{ls} on the remote machine to determine the login name, delegating the problem of mapping the uid to the login to the remote system which should know more about it than I do. @node Back-end Versions @subsection How VC determines what release your RCS is VC needs to know what release your revision control binaries you are running as not all features VC supports are available with older versions of @command{rcs(1)}, @command{cvs(1)} or @command{sccs(1)}. The default implementation of VC determines this value the first time it is needed and then stores the value globally to avoid the overhead of executing a process and parsing its output each time the information is needed. Unfortunately, life is not quite so easy when remote version control comes into the picture. Each remote machine may have a different version of the version control tools and, while this is painful, we need to ensure that unavailable features are not used remotely. To resolve this issue, @tramp{} currently takes the sledgehammer approach of making the release values of the revision control tools local to each @tramp{} buffer, forcing VC to determine these values again each time a new file is visited. This has, quite obviously, some performance implications. Thankfully, most of the common operations performed by VC do not actually require that the remote version be known. This makes the problem far less apparent. Eventually these values will be captured by @tramp{} on a system by system basis and the results cached to improve performance. @node Files directories and paths @chapter How file names, directories and paths are mangled and managed. @menu * Path deconstruction:: Breaking a path into its components. @end menu @node Path deconstruction @section Breaking a path into its components. @tramp{} filenames are somewhat different, obviously, to ordinary path names. As such, the lisp functions @code{file-name-directory} and @code{file-name-nondirectory} are overridden within the @tramp{} package. Their replacements are reasonably simplistic in their approach. They dissect the filename, call the original handler on the remote path and then rebuild the @tramp{} path with the result. This allows the platform specific hacks in the original handlers to take effect while preserving the @tramp{} path information. @node Issues @chapter Debatable Issues and What Was Decided @itemize @bullet @item The uuencode method does not always work. Due to the design of @tramp{}, the encoding and decoding programs need to read from stdin and write to stdout. On some systems, @code{uudecode -o -} will read stdin and write the decoded file to stdout, on other systems @code{uudecode -p} does the same thing. But some systems have uudecode implementations which cannot do this at all---it is not possible to call these uudecode implementations with suitable parameters so that they write to stdout. Of course, this could be circumvented: the @code{begin foo 644} line could be rewritten to put in some temporary file name, then @code{uudecode} could be called, then the temp file could be printed and deleted. But I have decided that this is too fragile to reliably work, so on some systems you'll have to do without the uuencode methods. @item @tramp{} does not work on XEmacs 20. This is because it requires the macro @code{with-timeout} which does not appear to exist in XEmacs 20. I'm somewhat reluctant to add an emulation macro to @tramp{}, but if somebody who uses XEmacs 20 steps forward and wishes to implement and test it, please contact me or the mailing list. @item The @tramp{} filename syntax differs between Emacs and XEmacs. The Emacs maintainers wish to use a unified filename syntax for Ange-FTP and @tramp{} so that users don't have to learn a new syntax. It is sufficient to learn some extensions to the old syntax. For the XEmacs maintainers, the problems caused from using a unified filename syntax are greater than the gains. The XEmacs package system uses EFS for downloading new packages. So, obviously, EFS has to be installed from the start. If the filenames were unified, Tramp would have to be installed from the start, too. @end itemize @c End of tramp.texi - the TRAMP User Manual @bye @c TODO @c @c * Say something about the .login and .profile files of the remote @c shells. @c * Explain how tramp.el works in principle: open a shell on a remote @c host and then send commands to it. @c * Mention that bookmarks are a cool feature to go along with Tramp. @c * Make terminology "inline" vs "out-of-band" consistent. @c It seems that "external" is also used instead of "out-of-band".