PyCharm: Remote Development

Question

How can I connect PyCharm to a remote server in order to do remote development?

• All the files (code and data) are on a remote server.
• The development (adding/editing files) will happen at the remote server.
• The program will run on the remote server

I want PyCharm to act as a visual interface to that remote system? (something like terminal --> ssh --> vim but with nice PyCharm IDE)

Answer 1

This configuration is simpler than it seems.

Creating a server configuration: specifying its name, type, and visibility

1. Open the Deployment page:

   • On Mac ⌘, on Windows and Linux File | Settings and click Deployment under Build, Execution, Deployment.

   • Choose Tools | Deployment | Configuration on the main menu. (see image below)

2. In the left-hand pane, that shows a list of all the existing server configurations, click Add +. The Add Server dialog box opens.

3. Specify the server configuration name in the Name text box. From the Type drop-down list, choose the server configuration type depending on the protocol you are going to use to exchange the data with the server. For more info about available protocols (FTP, SFTP, FTPS).

4. Use the Visible only for this project checkbox to configure the visibility of the server access configuration.

5. Click OK. The Add Server dialog box closes and you return to the Connection tab of the Deployment dialog box.

Mapping local folders to folders on the server and the URL addresses to access them

1. Switch to the Mappings tab.

2. In the Local Path text box, specify the full path to the desired folder in the project tree. In the simplest case it is the project root.

3. In the Deployment Path text box, specify the folder on the server where PyCharm will upload the data from the folder specified in the Local Path text box. Type the path to the folder relative to the server configuration root.

4. In the Web Path text box, type the path to the folder on the server relative to the server configuration root. Actually, type the relative path you typed in the Deployment Path text box.

How do I configure automatic upload of changed files to the default server

1. Open the Options dialog:

   • Windows/Linux: File | Settings | Build, Execution, Deployment | Deployment | Options
   • MacOS X: PyCharm | Preferences | Build, Execution, Deployment | Deployment | Options

2. From the Upload changed files automatically to the default server list, choose:

   • Always, to upload any manually or automatically saved file
   • On explicit save action, to upload only manually saved files
   • Never, to suppress automatic upload

That's it! You are ready to start developing.

I have just collected the most relevant information that is available in the official PyCharm documentation, and I have added some images that might guide the ones that are more visually oriented.

Answer 2

This is how I do remote development using PyCharm:

1. Have a copy of the codebase on local machine
2. Go to pycharm -> tools -> Deplyoment and configure your remote destination.
3. If you select Automatic Upload then as soon as you save any file on local machine, it will get uploaded to the remote, thereby giving you an impression of working on the remote. However, based on my experience, you should not select Automatic Upload specially if you like to save every now and then. For such cases, upload manually by right clicking the file and selecting Upload to remote once you are ready to run/test.
4. In the terminal below, ssh to remote and run commands there.