SSH, SFTP, RDP and VNC use cases on macOS

Real-world workflows where SSHive replaces a stack of legacy tools.

Each page below starts from a machine you actually have to look after, a Raspberry Pi, a Synology box, an EC2 instance behind a bastion, a Windows Server, and walks through the setup on that machine and in SSHive: which port to forward, which key to install, which command opens the console. The steps are written for the Mac app, where SSH, SFTP, RDP and VNC sit side by side in tabs; where the iPhone and iPad app can do the same job, the page says so. Every page also says what the free version covers for that scenario and where Pro starts, because the answer changes from one setup to the next: a Raspberry Pi managed over SSH and SFTP needs nothing paid, a Windows desktop over RDP does. For a feature-by-feature reference, see all features; for numbered procedures, the step-by-step guides.

Homelab and NAS

Machines on your own network: shells, file copies, and admin pages reached through a tunnel instead of an open port.

SSH into a Raspberry Pi from your Mac

The shell and file copies for everyday upkeep, a tunnel to Home Assistant, and the Pi desktop when you need it, from one Mac app.

SSH into a Synology or QNAP NAS from your Mac

A shell for the jobs the web interface hides, SFTP for moving files, and the admin page reached through SSH instead of an open port.

Manage your home server from your Mac

A profile per machine, admin pages through SSH instead of open ports, and one command sent to every box when it is update night.

Manage Proxmox VE from your Mac

A shell on every node, a VM console without the browser, ISOs dropped straight into storage, and the web interface kept behind SSH.

Cloud

Instances you reach with a key file, often through a bastion, in front of databases that only answer inside the VPC.

SSH into AWS EC2 instances from your Mac

Public instances with their key pair, private ones through a bastion, a private database through a tunnel: each saved once as a profile.

Containers and clusters

Docker hosts and Kubernetes nodes, where the work is logs, exec and the same command on several machines.

Manage Docker hosts from your Mac

Logs, exec and compose over SSH, a container's port opened on your Mac through a tunnel, and the same command sent to every host.

SSH into Kubernetes nodes from your Mac

kubectl answers most questions. For the rest (the kubelet journal, the container runtime, a service nobody exposed) you need the node.

Windows

RDP for the desktop and PowerShell over OpenSSH for the rest, from the same Mac window.

Windows Server administration from a Mac

RDP for the desktop sessions, PowerShell over SSH for everything scriptable: Windows Server in tabs of the same Mac window.

Your Mac as a workstation

How the everyday setup looks for a developer, and for anyone arriving from Windows tools.

A developer SSH workflow built for macOS

Servers grouped by project, a color that marks production, database tunnels that come with the profile, and an assistant that can work in your sessions.

An all-in-one SSH client for the move from Windows to Mac

Bring your saved sessions across from MobaXterm, PuTTY or Royal TSX and keep one window, instead of rebuilding your setup from four Mac apps.