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.
By Lucas Russo, developer of SSHive · Updated
A home server is rarely one machine any more. There is the box running Plex or Jellyfin, a Raspberry Pi with Home Assistant, perhaps a mini PC running Proxmox, and a NAS for storage. Each has its own SSH login and its own admin page on its own port.
In SSHive, file them in a Home Lab folder in the sidebar, give each one a color, and save the commands you repeat as snippets. The built-in library already has disk usage, memory, open ports and the running Docker containers, and your own snippets can ask for a value when you insert them. The rest of this page covers the three things that make a lab pleasant to run from a Mac: tunnels, file copies and updates.
Admin pages through a tunnel, not an open port
Plex listens on 32400, Jellyfin on 8096, Home Assistant on 8123, Sonarr on 8989. Forwarding those ports on your router puts them in front of every scanner on the internet. A local tunnel keeps them private: in the profile of the machine that runs the service, add one under Local Tunnels (-L), for example local port 8096 to
localhost:8096, connect, and open http://localhost:8096 on the Mac. The SSH tunnel guide explains the three kinds of tunnel.
In the free version a profile opens one local tunnel. If one machine hosts several services you want open at the same time, that is where Pro comes in.Copying files with SFTP
The SFTP pane sits beside the terminal in the same tab. Drag a folder from Finder to
/backup/macbook/ on the server and the transfer list shows the speed and the time remaining. For a regular backup, a scheduled rsync on the server is the better tool; SFTP is for the one-off "I need this on the server" moment, and for pulling a log back to the Mac.Updating every machine at once
Broadcast sends what you type to every connected SSH session. Open a session to each box, click the Broadcast button in the toolbar and send
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y: each machine runs it, and its output appears in its own tab, where you check it. Since broadcast reaches every connected SSH session, disconnect the machines that should sit it out, the one running your VPN for instance, before you send a reboot. Broadcast is a Pro feature.What is free here, and what needs Pro
A small lab fits in the free version: 5 saved profiles, 2 SSH sessions open at once, SFTP with uploads of up to 10 MB per file, one local tunnel per profile, and 3 snippets of your own on top of the built-in library. SSHive Pro removes those limits and adds broadcast, VNC and RDP for machines with a desktop, and remote tunnels, for a one-time $12.99.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my home server's address from the Mac?+
On your own network, try the hostname first (
unraid.local, proxmox.local): most Linux distributions announce themselves over mDNS, which macOS resolves through Bonjour. If the name does not answer, your router's list of connected devices, or its DHCP leases, shows the address. Giving the server a fixed address in the router saves editing the profile later.Can I reach my home server when I am away?+
Two options. The safer one is a VPN such as Tailscale or WireGuard on the server and on the Mac: the server is then reachable as if you were at home, and nothing is forwarded on the router. The other is to forward an unusual external port, 2222 for example, to the server's port 22, allow key logins only and run fail2ban; the profile then points at your home address and port 2222.
Does SSHive replace Mosh on a shaky connection?+
No. SSHive runs over plain SSH on TCP, not over Mosh's UDP protocol. On a very unstable link, such as a phone hotspot on a train, Mosh keeps the session alive across network changes and echoes keystrokes locally, which SSHive does not. When an SSHive session drops, its tab offers a Reconnect button.
Related SSHive features
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