Tell me more ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

Before I ask my question, an impassioned plea. Please don't let this devolve into a "use the command-line or GTFO" flamewar. Yes, I know about scp and friends.

I have a VPS running Ubuntu and I'd like to mount one of its filesystems on my Mac so I can use all my local tools and copy files via finder, etc.

I'm using Fuse/MacFusion now, and it's particularly slow.

Any better way?

share|improve this question
I thought OS X supported mounting volumes over SSH natively... – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Apr 5 '12 at 13:05
scp is not for mounting a file system... – Bart Silverstrim Apr 5 '12 at 13:06
And are you asking for specific products to use for mounting non-native filesystems to your Mac? Because that might get this closed as a shopping question, especially if you're disregarding anything that uses the command line or script to mount. – Bart Silverstrim Apr 5 '12 at 13:07
I think he means MacFUSE SSHFS. – cjc Apr 5 '12 at 13:07
@Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams - I'll look into that. – Robot Apr 5 '12 at 14:44
show 3 more comments

migrated from serverfault.com Apr 5 '12 at 13:35

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

First, set up a VPN connection between the VPS and your Mac. Something like OpenVPN is fine (the TunnelBlick Mac client works well, at least up through Snow Leopard).

Second, set up the VPS as an AFP server using the "netatalk" package. Something like sudo apt-get install netatalk. AFP is the native Mac network filesystem. Configure it to your situation.

At this point, you can establish the VPN connection between the VPS and the Mac, and then find and mount the AFP volumes from the VPS in your Finder.

An alternative would be to use something like MacFUSE and SSHFS, but using AFP is more "native" and will show up better in Finder.

share|improve this answer
1  
I already use TunnleBlick to drive all traffic through my VPS when I'm on the road, so this has real possibilities. Thanks. – Robot Apr 5 '12 at 14:55
I have a CentOS box at home from which I occasionally mount directories on my Macbook. It works decently enough. – cjc Apr 5 '12 at 14:58
up vote 0 down vote

You could setup WebDAV on the VPS (there are various tutorials depending on the Ubuntu version available on the internet), and then use Finder, which has native support for it to access it. Just make sure that you use WebDAV over SSL.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

Expandrive or Transmit or Interarchy.

Those are the easiest and most Mac friendly ways.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.