Open local text application to edit remote text file using ssh?

Question

So i am in a VPS terminal using ssh.

In normal case I could just run locally

mate <file>

and it fires up TextMate with that file.

Is it possible to use the same command and somehow open the local TextMate application but editing the remote file?

That would be good if you are working in VPS and don't want to use vim all the time.

Answer 1

The solution is to mount the remote system using sshfs. On OS X, sshfs can for instance be installed by using Homebrew.

The filesystem is mounted via SSH using your regular SSH credentials or key so it's very easy to do, and then you navigate it as if it's a local directory and enjoy the benefit of having access to all your local tools.

Answer 2

You have different options:

• mounting a remote filesystem using (Mac)Fuse (as recommended by furtive),
• synchronize your remote directory:
  • with rsync (as recommended by eglasius),
  • with an SCM (like git or hg or others),
• or, and this would be my preferred way, use Emacs (Aquamacs, I guess, in your case) and use the tramp mode to edit remote files.

I used to do this in a few years back for some projects, and it worked perfectly, both for LANs and WANs.

If you want to stick to TextMate, then furtive's solution is ideal.