GNU Info

(tramp)Windows setup hints

---

Next: Auto-save and Backup Prev: Remote shell setup Up: Configuration

---

Enter node , (file) or (file)node

Issues with Cygwin ssh
======================

This section needs a lot of work!  Please help.

   If you use the Cygwin installation of ssh (you have to explicitly
select it in the installer), then it should work out of the box to just
select `sshx' as the connection method.  You can find information about
setting up Cygwin in their FAQ at `http://cygwin.com/faq/'.

   If you wish to use the `scpx' connection method, then you might have
the problem that Emacs calls `scp' with a Windows filename such as
`c:/foo'.  The Cygwin version of `scp' does not know about Windows
filenames and interprets this as a remote filename on the host `c'.

   One possible workaround is to write a wrapper script for `scp' which
converts the Windows filename to a Cygwinized filename.

   I guess that another workaround is to run Emacs under Cygwin, or to
run a Cygwinized Emacs.

   If you want to use either `ssh' based method on Windows, then you
might encounter problems with `ssh-agent'.  Using this program, you can
avoid typing the pass-phrase every time you log in (and the `scpx'
method more or less requires you to use `ssh-agent' because it does not
allow you to type a password or pass-phrase).  However, if you start
Emacs from a desktop shortcut, then the environment variable
`SSH_AUTH_SOCK' is not set and so Emacs and thus TRAMP and thus `ssh'
and `scp' started from TRAMP cannot communicate with `ssh-agent'.  It
works better to start Emacs from the shell.

   If anyone knows how to start `ssh-agent' under Windows in such a way
that desktop shortcuts can profit, please holler.  I don't really know
anything at all about Windows...