131

My Question is seemingly simple. I need to mount an SSH/SFTP volume and make it visible in finder to be able to use it as if it were a local volume (think SMB share). I have tried everything I could find (MacFUSE + sshfs (whatever version), Macfusion (couldn't install),...).

Is there anyway to do this seemingly simple thing? It feels like I'm missing something here. Also, I'm not looking for an SFTP client for download/upload. My personal machine is an Ubuntu box, and that's easily doable on that.

Improve this question

13 Answers 13

Reset to default
118

The best solution I've found today (2017) is to use Homebrew and Cask to install osxfuse and sshfs. Note that Homebrew core deprecated all FUSE-related formulae in 2020 so you need to install sshfs from a tap:

brew install --cask macfuse
brew install gromgit/fuse/sshfs-mac

And then:

sshfs username@hostname:/remote/directory/path /local/mount/point -ovolname=NAME

It works! :-)

Improve this answer
11
  • 1
    I don't see files mounted this way in finder for some reason
    – Jules Gagnon-Marchand
    Commented Dec 31, 2015 at 21:00
  • I guess you would have to mount the disk under /Volumes, no?
    – Josef Habr
    Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 14:06
  • 18
    Be careful when using this tool to mount in Volumes. I messed up and specified /Volumes (itself) as the mount point and it killed the folder. I know...dumb, but...it happened. That made Finder unhappy. Disk repair fixed it but it was a scary 20 minutes.
    – Brian Colavito
    Commented May 26, 2016 at 21:01
  • 1
    @JensTimmerman, sshfs moved from a brew cask to a brew tap, updated the answer, see above
    – eskatos
    Commented Jan 3, 2017 at 16:33
  • 1
    If you are using ssh keys remember that path to key must be absolute path: stackoverflow.com/questions/22393502/…
    – Paweł Brewczynski
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 10:25
29

Well, MacFusion was going to be my answer but since you've tried that I'll recommend my second favourite app when it comes to mounting shares: Panic's Transmit. It's new, very awesome, feature lets you mount any share that it can connect to in the UI as a "disk" in your Finder that you can drag files to. SFTP, SSH, S3...very cool.

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    My #1 issue with MacFusion is that it doesn't support key-based authentication, so I can't use it with the server I usually use. Transmit handles that nicely (but isn't free).
    – cjm
    Commented Feb 29, 2016 at 8:54
  • Transmit Disk has been removed as of Transmit 5.6.0 library.panic.com/transmit/transmit-disk
    – lazd
    Commented Dec 10, 2020 at 6:13
  • According to help.panic.com/transmit/transmit5/transmit-disk, there is slight hope it might come back at some point later
    – ᴍᴇʜᴏᴠ
    Commented Feb 8, 2023 at 14:20
  • Looks like MacFusion isn't supported anymore and Transmit is $45.
    – Magnus Lind Oxlund
    Commented May 20 at 2:44
10

I use Cyberduck for this task. It's a cross-platform (but native on mac) app that is full of features and it's free to use. You can support the developers by donating or buying it directly from the Mac App Store.

The developer also has an application named Mountainduck which let you mount the path you want to a folder and access it through Finder app.

Improve this answer
0
6

As of March 2013, the current free software solution is macFUSE plus a package for SSHFS (a download link on Fuse for OS X webpage).

Macfusion is a GUI for easy mounting/unmounting remote shares but it needs to be patched to work with SSHFS/Fuse for OS X.

Improve this answer
1
1

Best ones that you can use are Transmit, like has been said before, or Expandrive, which is probably more like what you're looking for, as finder integration is its main feature.

Improve this answer
0

Another solution is WebDrive (35$+). I successfully used the Windows version of the same product, so I expect the same from the OS X version. Too bad, that they require you to buy separate licenses for Windows and OS X.

Improve this answer
0

If you already have FUSE for OS X installed (e.g. you got it directly from SourceForge), then @eskatos solution can reduced to just installing sshfs instead of the whole cask which includes FUSE. You can do this by using: 

brew install homebrew/fuse/sshfs

You might want to check if you have the latest version of FUSE for OS X through your System Preferences while you're at it.

Improve this answer
0

Given I cannot comment, I'll add to this answer that if you want to unmount the recently mounted sshfs disk, you need to execute:

umount <MOUNTPOINT>

The sshfs man page states that you should do fusermount -u <MOUNTPOINT> but that command doesn't exist in macOS

Improve this answer
1
  • Try diskutil unmount MountPoint|DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode
    – user1787331
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 19:43
0

Just in case you are having problems unmounting the disk, you can unmount it simply writing

umount ~/mounted/folder

hope it saves some headache to someone else

Improve this answer
1
  • Welcome to Ask Different. Could you edit this to elaborate how it addresses the question on how to mount? Be sure you complete the tour as well, it helps get the best reception when you participate.
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 18:51
0
  1. Install VSCode
  2. Extensions - Install Remote - SSH (from Microsoft)
  3. Bottom left >< icon. Open remote window
  4. Map your remote drive e.g./home/joe
  5. Browse the directories in Explorer view
  6. Drag and drop to upload, right click and download as needed
Improve this answer
-1

ExpanDrive is a commercial version with an outrageous $50 price tag, but is very clean and slick.

It also mounts Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Amazon S3, OwnCloud folders, plus a bunch more and supports ssh keys and sftp.

Improve this answer
1
  • I wouldn't recommend ExpanDrive any more - my copy simply won't connect to anything at all (either basic SSH or Dropbox/Google etc. - repeated oauth errors for the latter) and didn't get anywhere with support.
    – William Turrell
    Commented Jul 19, 2021 at 10:41
-1

You can download CloudMounter from the Mac App Store.

This app, permit virtual mount units like, GoogleDrive, DropBox, S3, SFTP, FTP, etc.

Improve this answer
2
-5

I use Filezilla, its free, connect as sftp.

Improve this answer
0

You must log in to answer this question.