Nautilus, Konqueror, Krusader, and Webdrive
Mounting Remote Directories

Bill Moss
October 8, 2005

Introduction

The purpose of this note is to point out the usefullness and similarity of the Windows application WebDrive and the Linux file managers Nautilus (2.10) and Konqueror (3.4). These applications support the read-write mounting of remote directories using the FTP, SFTP, and WEBDAV protocols. Nautilus and Konqueror also support the Native File System protocol SMB.

My current Webdrive, Nautilus, and Konqueror configurations are listed below. Bigboy is my wife's home Windows 2000 server which sits behind an SMC Barricade 7004 AWBR, router, four port switch, wireless access point, and firewall. Bigboy runs the freeware Cerberus FTP server as a service.

Webdrive

To set up a WebDrive site the user must specify a site name, address, protocol, drive letter, and username. The WebDrive taskbar icon can be used to make or break connections. Webdrive mounts the remote folder in the file sytem using the drive letter specified during set up. When a connection is made, the remote directory appears in a Windows Explorer window with the usual functionality. Files can be opened, saved, copied, pasted, and dragged and dropped. Windows Explorer can also be used to mount remote WebDAV folders. Copy and paste work but open and save do not.

  Protocol  Site Name        Address

  webdav    Blackboard-206   bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      courses/bmoss-mthsc-206
  webdav    Blackboard-434   bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      courses/bmoss-mthsc-434
  webdav    Blackboard-CS    bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      users/bmoss
  ftp       Bigboy-My-Docs   192.168.2.2 (Advanced PASV)
  sftp      CES Home         access.ces.clemson.edu 
      (Advanced /users/bmoss)
  ftp       U Drive          ftp.netware.clemson.edu

Nautilus

The best way to set up a Nautilus site is to type the URL in the Location textbox and then bookmark the site. Bookmark names can be edited. The remote directory appears in the main Nautilus window with the usual functionality. Files can be opened, saved, copied, pasted, and dragged and dropped. Using multiple windows makes it easy to copy files from one directory to another. All the directories I normally use for file storage are one click away. Bookmarking a remote directory does not mount it in the file system. The Nautilus file picker supports bookmarks. These bookmarks used in Nautilus can be duplicated in the Nautilus file picker. Then any Nautilus application can open a file in a remote folder by using a file picker bookmark.

  Bookmark Name    Address

  My Downloads     file:///mnt/windowsd/My Downloads
  My Documents     file:///mnt/windowsd/Profile.cu/My Documents
  Blackboard-206   davs://bmoss@bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      courses/bmoss-mthsc-206
  Blackboard-434   davs://bmoss@bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      courses/bmoss-mthsc-434
  Blackboard-CS    davs://bmoss@bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      users/bmoss
  Bigboy-My-Docs   ftp://bmoss@192.168.2.2
  CES-Home         sftp://bmoss@access.ces.clemson.edu/
      users/bmoss
  U Drive          ftp://.bmoss.b.employee.clemsonu@
      ftp.netware.clemson.edu
  Share Drive      smb://share.clemson.edu/share

Konqueror

The best way to set up a Konqueror site is to type the URL in the Location textbox and then bookmark the site. Bookmark names can be edited. Setting the left navigation panel to show bookmarks makes it easy to jump from one remote directory to another. The remote directory appears in the main Konqueror window with the usual functionality. Files can be opened, saved, copied, pasted, and dragged and dropped. Using multiple windows, a split window, or tabs makes it easy to copy files from one directory to another. All the directories I normally use for file storage are one click away. Bookmarking a remote directory does not mount it in the file system. The KDE file picker supports bookmarks. These bookmarks used in Konqueror can be duplicated in the KDE file picker. Then any KDE application can open a file in a remote folder by using a file picker bookmark.

  Bookmark Name    Address

  My Downloads     file:/mnt/windowsd/My downloads
  My Documents     file:/mnt/windowsd/Profile.cu/My Documents
  Blackboard-206   webdav://bmoss@bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      courses/bmoss-mthsc-206
  Blackboard-434   webdav://bmoss@bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      courses/bmoss-mthsc-434
  Blackboard-CS    webdav://bmoss@bb.clemson.edu/bbcswebdav/
      users/bmoss
  Bigboy-My-Docs   ftp://bmoss@192.168.2.2
  CES-Home         sftp://bmoss@access.ces.clemson.edu/
      users/bmoss
  U Drive          ftp://.bmoss.b.employee.clemsonu@
      ftp.netware.clemson.edu
  Share Drive      smb://share.clemson.edu/share

Krusader

Krusader is a twin panel file manager. Remote directories can be accessed with the same URL's used for Konqueror. I use Konqueror to manage several remote Web sites. I have a profile set up for each site. The Copy and Move commands by default assume that you want to copy to or move to the directory opened in the other panel. This is convenient. The implementation of the file comparison feature of Krusader is first rate. Perhaps, best of all, is a synchronization feature that lists the files in the directories open in each panel and shows you the differences.