File Manager

The File Manager provides a visual interface for managing files on your server — no command line required. Upload, download, edit, and organize files with drag-and-drop simplicity.

Technical Implementation

The CtrlOps File Manager is built on a high-performance SFTP subsystem that maintains persistent channels for zero-latency navigation.

SFTP Architecture

1. Persistent Channels: When a server connection is established, the Rust backend opens a dedicated SFTP channel via ssh2-rs. This channel remains active throughout the session, eliminating the overhead of re-authenticating for every file operation.
2. Buffer Management: Uploads and downloads use optimized chunk sizes (default 32KB) to maximize throughput while maintaining low memory overhead on the desktop application.
3. Privilege Escalation (PrivEsc): For system-critical directories, CtrlOps can automatically escalate privileges using sudo for specific operations (like editing /etc/nginx/nginx.conf), provided the SSH user has the necessary sudoer permissions.

Performance metrics

• List latency: < 200ms for directories with up to 1,000 items.
• Transfer Speed: Performance parity with native SCP/SFTP clients.
• Atomic Operations: File edits are saved using temporary buffers to prevent data loss during network interruptions.

Interface Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  📁 /var/www/html                    [Upload] [New Folder]  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  📁 assets/              📄 index.html         📁 css/       │
│  📄 config.php           📁 images/            📄 .htaccess  │
│                                                             │
│  Name                Size      Modified        Permissions  │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────  │
│  index.html          2.4 KB    Apr 13 10:30    644          │
│  config.php          1.1 KB    Apr 12 15:22    600          │
│  assets/             --        Apr 10 09:15    755          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Navigation

Breadcrumb Trail

Click any part of the path to jump to that directory:

Home > var > www > html > assets > css

Quick Actions

Right-click any file or folder for:

• Open — View or edit
• Download — Save to your computer
• Rename — Change name
• Delete — Move to trash
• Permissions — Change access rights
• Copy Path — Copy full file path

File Operations

Uploading Files

Method 1: Drag and Drop

1. Drag files from your computer
2. Drop into the File Manager window
3. Files upload automatically

Method 2: Upload Button

1. Click "Upload" button
2. Select files from your computer
3. Click "Open"

Downloading Files

Single File:

1. Right-click file
2. Select "Download"
3. Choose save location

Multiple Files:

1. Select files (Ctrl/Cmd + Click)
2. Right-click selection
3. "Download as ZIP"

Entire Directory:

1. Right-click folder
2. "Download Folder"
3. Gets compressed as ZIP automatically

Creating Files and Folders

New Folder:

1. Click "New Folder" button
2. Enter folder name
3. Press Enter

New File:

1. Right-click in empty space
2. "New File"
3. Enter filename with extension
4. Opens in editor

Inline File Editing

Text Editor

Double-click any text file to edit:

Supported formats:

• HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• PHP, Python, Ruby
• JSON, XML, YAML
• Markdown, TXT
• Configuration files

Editor Features:

• Syntax highlighting
• Line numbers
• Find and replace
• Auto-save drafts
• Undo/redo history

Image Preview

Click images to preview:

• PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, WebP
• Zoom in/out
• Rotate
• Download original

Code Comparison

When editing a file, see changes:

  function calculateTotal() {
-   return price * quantity;
+   return price * quantity * taxRate;
  }

Permissions Management

Visual permission editor:

📄 index.html

Owner      [✓] Read  [✓] Write  [✗] Execute
Group      [✓] Read  [✗] Write  [✗] Execute
Others     [✓] Read  [✗] Write  [✗] Execute

Numeric: 644

Common presets:

• 644 — Normal file (rw-r--r--)
• 755 — Executable/script (rwxr-xr-x)
• 600 — Private file (rw-------)

Search and Filter

Finding Files

Search Bar:

• Filename search
• Content search (for text files)
• Regex support

Filters:

• File type (Images, Documents, Code)
• Size range
• Modified date
• Permissions

Batch Operations

Select multiple files to:

• Delete in bulk
• Change permissions
• Move to folder
• Download as ZIP

Transfers Queue

Monitor uploads/downloads:

Transfer Queue
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✓ config.php          100%    2.4 KB/s
⏳ assets.zip           45%    5.1 MB/s
⏳ database.sql         12%    3.2 MB/s
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Pause] [Cancel All] [Clear Completed]

Features:

• Pause/resume transfers
• Retry failed uploads
• Bandwidth limiting
• Transfer history

Advanced Features

SFTP/SCP Support

Behind the scenes, File Manager uses:

• SFTP for file transfers (encrypted)
• SCP for bulk operations (fast)

All connections are secured with your SSH keys.

Symlink Support

Visual indicators for symbolic links:

📎 uploads → /mnt/storage/uploads

Click to:

• Navigate to target
• Edit the link itself
• See link properties

Archive Handling

Work with archives without extracting:

View contents:

• ZIP, TAR, GZIP
• Browse without extracting
• Extract individual files

Create archives:

• Select files
• Right-click → "Compress"
• Choose format (ZIP, TAR.GZ)

Keyboard Shortcuts

Troubleshooting

"Permission denied"

• Check file permissions
• Ensure you have write access
• Try using sudo (Settings > Use Sudo)

"Upload failed"

• Check file size limit
• Verify disk space on server
• Check network connection

"File locked"

• Another process is using the file
• Check if service is running
• Stop service, edit, restart

Slow transfers

• Enable compression (Settings > Compress uploads)
• Use wired connection
• Schedule for off-peak hours

Best Practices

1. Backup before bulk changes

   • Download critical files first
   • Use snapshots if available

2. Use version control

   • Git for code files
   • Natural versioning for documents

3. Organize logically

   /var/www/
   ├── site1.com/
   ├── site2.com/
   └── shared/
       ├── uploads/
       ├── cache/
       └── logs/

4. Monitor disk space

   • Regular cleanup of logs
   • Archive old files
   • Use quotas

Security Notes

• All transfers are encrypted via SSH/SFTP
• No credentials stored on intermediate servers
• Session expires after inactivity
• Two-factor authentication supported