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SSH Machines

!!! tip "Pro feature" SSH machines require RemoteX Pro.

RemoteX connects to remote servers using SSH key authentication. Passwords are never stored.

Managing machines

Open Menu → Manage Machines to see the full machine list. From here you can add, edit, and delete machines.

!!! note The Manage Machines menu item is locked on the free tier.

Add Machine dialog

Click + in the Machines dialog to open the Add Machine form.

Add Machine dialog

Name

A display name used only inside RemoteX. Choose something descriptive — you will see this name in button editors and the machine picker.

Examples: Plex Server, Pi-hole, Work VPS, NAS

Host / IP

The IP address or hostname of the remote machine. This must be reachable from your computer over the network.

Examples: 192.168.1.50, plex.local, myserver.example.com

SSH User

The username to log in with on the remote machine.

Examples: pi, ubuntu, admin, yourname

Port

The SSH port. Default is 22. Change this only if your server runs SSH on a non-standard port.

SSH Key Path

The path to the private key file used for authentication.

Examples: ~/.ssh/id_rsa, ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, ~/.ssh/myserver_key

If the field is empty, RemoteX falls back to your SSH agent or the default key (~/.ssh/id_rsa).

!!! note Keys with a passphrase require a running ssh-agent with the key loaded. If the key is locked, RemoteX shows a clear error — it will not prompt for the passphrase interactively.

Icon

A visual icon shown next to the machine name in the picker dialog and the machine list. Six icons are available: desktop, laptop, server, router, Wi-Fi access point, and a generic device.

SSH key setup

If you don't have an SSH key pair yet, RemoteX can generate one for you and copy the public key to the server:

  1. Click Generate SSH key — RemoteX creates an Ed25519 key pair in ~/.ssh/
  2. Click Copy key to server — enter your password once (it is not stored). This runs ssh-copy-id internally
  3. Future connections use the key automatically, no password needed

Testing the connection

Click Test in the machine dialog. RemoteX runs echo remotex-ok on the remote host. A green message confirms the connection works. If it fails, the full error from SSH is shown.

Run the test after adding a machine and whenever you change credentials.

Assigning machines to a button

In the Button Editor, the Target machines section shows your machines as toggle switches. Enable the machines you want.

The machine picker

When a button has two or more targets enabled, clicking it opens the machine picker dialog.

Machine picker

The picker lists each enabled target. Select one and click Run. The command runs on the selected machine only.

!!! tip If you want to run on all machines at once without picking, you can do so by creating separate buttons per machine, or by using multi-select to run them in sequence.

Output modes over SSH

All three execution modes work over SSH:

Mode Behaviour
Silent Result shown as a toast notification
Show output Remote stdout/stderr displayed in a dialog after the command finishes
Open in terminal RemoteX generates an ssh -t command and opens it in your terminal emulator — full interactive session