davesnx SSH Transfer
Use the existing ssh-transfer command. Both upload and download connections
start on the Mac. Nspawn cannot connect to the Mac; reversing the file direction
does not reverse the SSH connection. No HTTP server or new forwarding is needed.
Identify the execution machine
Run uname -s where your command tool executes. On Linux, check
systemd-detect-virt --container to identify nspawn.
- On the local Mac, run the transfer there.
- Inside nspawn, inspect the remote source or destination as needed, then give the exact command for the user's Mac terminal. Use an absolute nspawn path. If a separate Mac execution tool is available, verify its machine before use.
- If the machine is unclear, ask before transferring. Do not infer that your command tool runs on the Mac just because the user uses a Mac terminal.
When only nspawn execution is available, stop after providing the Mac command.
State that no transfer was run. Do not SSH from nspawn to localhost or the Mac.
The Mac's ~/Downloads is not nspawn's ~/Downloads.
Prepare the transfer
Identify the source machine, source path, destination machine, and destination path. Ask for missing paths rather than choosing a broad home or project folder.
On the Mac, check command -v ssh-transfer and read ssh-transfer --help.
If it is outside PATH, locate terminal/bin/ssh-transfer in the setup checkout
and use its full path. If the Mac's rsync is missing or too old, report that it
needs brew install rsync. Remote rsync failures need repair on the remote host.
Keep the VPN on for nspawn. Use existing SSH configuration for the user, port,
and host address.
Put options before the action. The default host is nspawn; use --host ALIAS
for another configured host. These examples all run on the Mac:
# Upload one local file to the nspawn home directory.
ssh-transfer push ~/Downloads/report.pdf .
# Download one nspawn file to the Mac.
ssh-transfer pull /home/me/report.pdf ~/Downloads/
# Download a directory's contents to the Mac.
ssh-transfer pull /home/me/results/ ./results/
# Preview changes without modifying the destination.
ssh-transfer --dry-run push ./reports/ reports/
Apply path and safety rules
- Quote paths with spaces or shell characters. Pass exactly one source path and one destination path.
- Relative remote paths start at the remote user's home, not the current SSH
directory. Avoid remote
~; the local shell can expand it to the Mac's home. - A source directory ending in
/copies its contents. Without/, it copies the directory into an existing destination directory. Confirm the intended layout. Destination parent directories must already exist. - Remote paths containing
*,?,[,], or backslash are rejected because rsync can select the wrong file. Copy a parent directory whose path lacks those characters only if its full contents are within the requested scope. Otherwise ask before expanding the transfer. Local paths and copied child names can contain these characters. - Inspect a
--dry-runbefore the actual transfer. Existing destination files can be overwritten; confirm replacements when the user has not authorized them. Unrelated destination files are not deleted. - Keep the helper's protected arguments and disabled SSH forwarding. Do not add
--delete,--inplace, or a fallback server to work around a failure.
Verify and report
Wait for the actual command to exit successfully before reporting completion. A dry-run or a command supplied for the Mac is not a completed transfer. Report the direction and destination, or the failure and required next action.
For an interrupted transfer, rerun the same command to reuse destination
.rsync-partial data. Preserve failed-transfer errors instead of hiding them.
For detailed copy behavior and command tests, read the setup checkout's
terminal/bin/README.md.