


The app even provides a way to automatically detect your shell and install its helper file from within an active ssh terminal session. “Installing” involves sourcing its shell helper file from shell startup files. $ textastic _posts/-secure-shellfish-plus-textastic-on-ipad-gets-the-jobs-done.mdįor textastic command to work, it relies on installing Secure Shellfish’s native shell integration. Installing its officially supported shell integration (for BASH, zsh, etc.) provides a built-in textastic > that works to open a file (via the SSH session, directly for a file on the server) in Textastic editor, and all right at a shell prompt in ssh terminal. The file I was editing is actually the markdown file for this post you are reading! The following command opens the file (which resides on SSH server) in the Textastic app. Open the (Remote) File Directly in iOS Editor (Textastic)įirst, I opened the markdown file I wanted to edit. It also has a container runtime (Docker) installed, which makes it convenient to run jekyll from a container.įollowing is how this blog post was made by leveraging Secure ShellFish on an iPad. The VM is configured to have an SSH server (which is how Secure ShellFish does most of its magic). For this demonstration, a Ubuntu virtual machine running on a QNAP NAS which lives on my home LAN is our “server”. To preview edits as they are being made to the blog post, I can run jekyll as a server locally. Adding a new post involves adding a markdown file which contains the content of the post. I have this blog as a jekyll-based GitHub (User) Pages repository on GitHub. Demonstrating a Workflow, Including Screenshots And, it can be given permission to keep SSH sessions open in the “background”, meaning it will keep an SSH session running even if you switch away from its app on iOS.
TEXTASTIC APP CODE
Or iCloud can be used to sync SSH keys.Įdit a file on the server using Textastic Code Editor 9 on the App Store. There’s a way to always connect to a tmux session in a terminal startup configuration.

Secure Shellfish has many other features that improve the iOS terminal experience. iOS integration with your shell As examples, from at a shell prompt in its terminal, you can access Shortcuts, open webpages, and copy to pasteboard, all coordinating with native iOS apps or features. This is a HUGE feature over a typical SSH terminal app. Modern iOS apps can open files and directories in-place. Here are a couple of the things that Secure Shellfish can do to make “Terminal Life” better on iOS: Files.app compatibility Server directories appear in the Files app. Open the (Remote) File Directly in iOS Editor (Textastic).Demonstrating a Workflow, Including Screenshots.The rest of this post is about exploring Secure Shellfish as a terminal (SSH client) and its all-around iOS network and file-system capabilities. It is reliable, but recently some of its limitations came to light, such as some native iOS integrations. Originally using it built from source (see its GitHub repo), I eventually purchased Blink.sh from the AppStore. It has improved hardware keyboard support and natively supports mosh mobile shell, which is handy for flaky SSH sessions. I have been using Blink.sh on iOS for some time. It has a few interesting features that make it a compelling tool to put in your iOS toolbox for SSH-backed work. These new features include support for Handoff, enabling you to work seamlessly across the app’s editions for iPhone, iPad and presumably even Mac, and for Touch ID, allowing you to unlock the app using your fingerprint on iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3.Īlso included in the newly updated Textastic for iPhone and iPad is integration with iCloud Drive along with support for iOS 8’s document picker for external storage providers.Secure ShellFish is an iOS/iPadOS terminal + file sharing app by Anders Borum. Textastic Code Editor, both in its iPhone and iPad editions, has just been updated with new features for iOS 8.
