Import hosts

Sternway reads the host lists of the tools you already use, so you do not have to type them in. Imports work offline, and nothing you import is uploaded unless you have turned on sync.

Import an OpenSSH config file quickly

On the desktop: Hosts › New › Import SSH config, then choose the file (usually ~/.ssh/config). On the phone: Hosts › + › Import SSH config….

Every Host block becomes a host, with its HostName, User, Port, ProxyJump and the keys its IdentityFile lines name. Hosts that already exist are skipped. If a key file could not be read (on a phone the files of your computer are not there), Sternway says which ones: add those keys in the Keychain afterwards (Use SSH keys).

ProxyCommand, LocalCommand and Match exec are never imported, because they would run programs on your computer.

Keep Sternway in step with ~/.ssh/config (desktop)

Instead of a one-time import, the desktop app can show your config file as it is and follow its changes:

1. Open Settings › Connections & SSH and turn on Keep in step with ~/.ssh/config.
2. Hosts now has an SSH config folder with every host of the file and of the files it includes.

A change to the file shows up within seconds. Editing one of these hosts in Sternway writes the change back into the file, one block at a time, leaving comments, order and everything Sternway does not use as they were. Hosts from included files are shown but never changed. When you connect, Sternway uses ProxyCommand, ProxyJump, IdentityFile, IdentitiesOnly, User, Port, ForwardAgent, the forwards and ServerAliveInterval as ssh would; a host’s details list what else the file says that Sternway does not use.

The SSH config folder stays on this computer: it is never synced. Deleting one of its hosts deletes its Host block from the file.

Import with a preview (desktop)

Settings › Import / Export imports from more formats, shows what it found before anything is written, and lets you decide what happens to hosts you already have.

1. Under Source, choose the format:
   • ssh_config and known_hosts (OpenSSH);
   • CSV (a spreadsheet export);
   • PuTTY .reg (a registry export). On Windows, This computer’s PuTTY reads PuTTY’s saved sessions directly, with no export;
   • MobaXterm (.mxtsessions / .ini);
   • SecureCRT (sessions folder / XML);
   • JSON (an export from Sternway).
2. Choose file… (or Paste text). For a CSV file, type the header of each column beside the field it holds, or leave a box blank where the header already is the field’s name (label, address, port, username, password, group, tags). A label and an address column are needed.
3. Choose Preview. Sternway lists the hosts, groups and port forwarding rules it found.
4. Under Conflicts, choose for each existing host: Skip, Replace (overwrites the saved host) or Duplicate.
5. Under Key files, tick the private keys to store. Into your own vault every key starts ticked; into a team vault none does, because everyone in that vault could use it. Files outside your home folder and the import file’s folder are read only if you choose Read these files too.
6. Pick Import into vault and choose Import.

When any host is set to Replace, Sternway first writes a snapshot of your data, so the import can be undone from Settings › Backups.

Import from Tailscale (desktop)

Hosts › New › Import from Tailscale… adds a host for each device of your tailnet.

• This computer’s Tailscale asks the Tailscale app running here (tailscale status --json). It needs no key.
• Tailscale API asks api.tailscale.com with an API access token (tskey-api-…) and your Tailnet name. The key is used once and not stored; give it a short expiry and revoke it afterwards.
• For a tailnet run by Headscale, fill in Control server with the Headscale server’s address and use a Headscale API key (headscale apikeys create).

Connect by picks the MagicDNS name or the Tailscale IP address. Mark as Tailscale SSH tags devices that run Tailscale SSH and leaves their password and key empty.

Keep a group filled from AWS EC2 (desktop)

A group can list your running EC2 instances and keep itself up to date:

1. Open a group’s editor (Hosts › New › New group, or Edit group on one you have).
2. Under Cloud sync, turn on Sync hosts from a cloud provider, choose AWS EC2, the region, an optional Name-tag filter and how often to refresh.
3. Give it an AWS access key that may list EC2 instances. The key stays on this computer and is never synced.

A host is added for each running instance and its address follows the instance. When an instance stops or is terminated, its host is removed at the next refresh, with any edits you made to it. Sternway only reads the instance list. The other providers in the list are not implemented yet.

Find devices on your network

Hosts › New › Discover devices on this network… (on the phone, Hosts › +) asks the local network for ten seconds which machines announce SSH or SFTP over multicast DNS, and lets you add the ones it finds.

Connect without saving

Type user@host:port, an ssh:// link or an ssh command into Quick connect on the Hosts screen. Save as host… keeps it afterwards.

Next

• Use SSH keys for the keys an import could not read.
• Back up and restore covers exporting hosts again: ssh_config, CSV and encrypted backups.
• Every import field: Import, export and backups.