Servers and connections

2fip can show folders on a server in a panel, and copy, move, rename and delete there like on your computer. It supports SFTP (file transfer over SSH), FTP and FTPS (FTP encrypted with TLS).

2fip connects by itself: it doesn’t mount anything on your system, so it works the same on every distribution, in the Flatpak and in the AppImage.

Connecting

Press Ctrl+K (File → Connect to server…):

1. Choose the protocol, type the server name or address, and check the port (filled in for you: 22 for SFTP, 21 for FTP and FTPS).
2. Type your user name and, if needed, your password.
3. Press Connect. The active panel opens your home folder on the server.

You can also type an address in the path bar (Ctrl+L), for example sftp://me@example.com/home/me.

SFTP

• 2fip tries your SSH agent first, then your keys in ~/.ssh (id_ed25519, id_ecdsa, id_rsa), and the password last. With SSH keys set up, you don’t need a password.
• The first time you connect to a server, 2fip shows its key fingerprint. Compare it with the one your server administrator gave you, then choose Trust and connect. It’s saved in ~/.ssh/known_hosts, like ssh does.
• If a server’s key has changed, 2fip warns you and doesn’t connect: someone may be intercepting the connection. If the server was reinstalled, remove its old line from ~/.ssh/known_hosts.

FTP and FTPS

• Leave the user name empty to log in anonymously.
• Plain FTP sends your password unencrypted. Use FTPS or SFTP when the server offers them.
• FTPS checks the server’s certificate; it must be valid (not self-signed).

Working on a server

• Copy and move with F5 / F6, the clipboard or drag and drop, in both directions and even between two servers. The progress panel shows the transferred bytes.
• Rename (F2), new folder (F7) and delete work as usual. Deleting on a server is always permanent.
• Opening a file (Enter, F3, F4, Open with…) downloads a copy to ~/.cache/2fip/remote/ and opens that. Changes to the copy are not uploaded back: copy the file to the server again when you’re done.
• Not available on servers yet: thumbnails, folder sizes, Find files, Details and Compress.

The Connections panel

The Connections button in the header (or File → Connections) lists:

• Saved connections, each with its status: green (connected), orange (connecting), red (connection lost) or grey (not connected), and these buttons:
  • Open: connects if needed (with the stored password) and shows the server in the active panel.
  • Reconnect: closes and opens the connection again, for example after the server closed it for being idle.
  • Disconnect: closes it; panels showing that server go to your home folder.
  • Edit and Delete.
• Open, not saved: connections made with Ctrl+K, with a Save button.

Add connection opens the connection dialog with a Name and two options:

• Save in Connections: keep it in the list.
• Remember the password in the system keyring: see below.

Save stores the connection without connecting.

Passwords

Passwords you choose to remember are stored only in your system keyring (GNOME Keyring, KWallet, or the Secret portal in the Flatpak): encrypted, and unlocked when you log in. They’re never written to 2fip’s files; the list of saved connections (~/.config/2fip/connections.json) has no passwords. You can see or delete them in Passwords and Keys (Seahorse), as “2fip: name”.

Passwords you don’t remember are kept in memory only while 2fip runs, so it can reconnect if the server drops the connection.

When connections close

• A connection closes by itself when no tab in either panel shows that server anymore (except while a copy or move is still running).
• If a server drops an idle connection, 2fip reconnects automatically the next time you use it.
• Connections don’t survive a restart: open them again from the Connections panel.