Tunnelier

Tunnelier is a complementary program which can be used as a FTP-to-SFTP bridge between Total Commander and a SFTP server. Tunnelier is a SSH and SFTP client. When it connects to a SFTP server it can also act as a local FTP server, serving the files from the SFTP server to FTP programs that does not support SFTP.

Tunnelier is free for individual use, as well as for limited use inside organizations.

Note: Since August 2008 Christian Ghisler, author of Total Commander, himself offers a (beta) plugin that can establish an SFTP connections with help of the libssh2 DLL (thread in the Total Commander Forum). The possibility described in this article in behalf of Tunnelier is therefore irrelevant, since the handling is more complicated.

How to use Tunnelier with Total Commander

Here's how you use Tunnelier with Total Commander to transfer files to and from SFTP servers:

1. Use Tunnelier to connect to a SFTP server. When setting up the connection enable the FTP-to-SFTP Bridge option on the tab named "Services".
2. After Tunnelier has established the connection to the SFTP server, use Total Commander to connect to the FTP server "localhost". In Total Commander's FTP connection details enter host name "localhost" or "127.0.0.1" and choose any name and password (they are ignored by Tunnelier).

Tips for configuring

You can set up Tunnelier and Total Commander to comfortably establish a SFTP connection by using the start menu. Total Commander calls the Tunnelier application with a predefined profile. Tunnelier connects to the desired server and then starts the FTP client in the currently running Total Commander session with a connection to the localhost (the FTP-to-SFTP bridge).

Profile for Tunnelier

• Tab Login:
  Enter the desired SFTP server (Host) and the Username for the login here.
• Tab Options, area On Login:
  In the field Execute Total Commander is executed with FTP access to localhost (command line parameter: /o /s /l=ftp://localhost). You may want to deactivate the options Open Terminal, Open SFTP, and Open Remote Desktop.
• Tab Options, option Logout when session activity is over:
  Check, so Tunnelier closes the SSH connection to the server after you quit the FTP connection in Total Commander.
• Tab Services, area FTP-to-SFTP Bridge:
  Check Enabled in order to activate the FTP-to-SFTP bridge. All other settings may be left as they are.

Save the profile with a name of your choice to an arbitrary directory (e.g. MyProfile.tlp).

Start menu entry for Total Commander

• Command: Calling Tunnelier.exe
• Parameters: -profile=MyProfile.tlp -loginOnStartup -exitOnDisconnect
  Tunnelier is called with the profile saved before (the path to the profile is not indicated here, see below). When started, Tunnelier shows a login dialog. The application is quit after closing the FTP and the SSH connection.
• Start path: Contains the path to the directory where the Tunnelier profile (MyProfile.tlp) resides.

See also

Secure FTP plugin - File system plugin which adds a SFTP client to Total Commander.

External links

• Web site of the Bitvise corporation, the developer of Tunnelier
• Website of SFTP4TC, a file system plugin which adds a SFTP client to Total Commander.

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