ADVANTECH Router App Midnight Commander User Guide

: June 13, 2024
: Advantech

Table of Contents

Router App Midnight Commander
Used symbols
Changelog
Description of the module
Installation
How to use
ssh usernameOrouter_address
Password:
mc
mc
Known issues and limitations
Related Documents
Documents / Resources

Midnight Commander

Router App Midnight Commander

Advantech Czech s.r.o., Sokolska 71, 562 04 Usti nad Orlici, Czech Republic
Document No. APP-0108-EN, revision from 12th October, 2023.

© 2023 Advantech Czech s.r.o. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without written consent.
Information in this manual is subject to change without notice, and it does not represent a commitment on the part of Advantech.
Advantech Czech s.r.o. shall not be liable for incidental or consequential damages resulting from the furnishing, performance, or use of this manual.
All brand names used in this manual are the registered trademarks of their respective owners. The use of trademarks or other designations in this publication is for reference purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement by the trademark holder.

Used symbols

Danger – Information regarding user safety or potential damage to the router.
Attention – Problems that can arise in specific situations.
Information – Useful tips or information of special interest.
Example – Example of function, command or script.

Changelog

1.1Midnight Commander Changelog
v4.5.55 (2019-07-13)

First release.

v4.5.55 (2020-10-01)

Linked statically with zlib 1.2.11.

v4.6.0 (2022-11-03)

Reworked license information.

v4.6.1 (2023-02-28)

Linked statically with zlib 1.2.13.

v4.7.5.6 (2023-05-15)

Linked statically with zlib 1.2.13 and S-Lang 2.3.3.
Terminfo database file xterm-256color installed to /usr/lib/terminfo if not present.
Fixed missing syntax definition which had led to error when opening files with mcedit.

Description of the module

Router app Midnight Commander is not contained in the standard router firmware. Uploading of this router app is described in the Configuration manual (see ChapterRelated Documents).
Midnight Commander is a directory browser/file manager for Unix-like operating systems. Router App Midnight Commander adds a way, how to use MC in router command line, when connected to router via ssh or putty.

Installation

Like every other Router App, the Midnight Commander is installed in Router Apps section in the router configuration page. Once the installation of the module is complete, the module is listed among other installed modules, but the module itself does not have any GUI, it only adds the possibility to use mc via command line when connected to router. ADVANTECH Router App Midnight
Commander - Router Apps

How to use

4.1 Command line
Firstly, you have to connect to your router. When using ssh, it should look like this

ssh usernameOrouter_address

Password:

and the you just run mc

mc

and Midnight Commander is ready ADVANTECH Router App Midnight Commander -
Midnight Commander 4.1 Command line
The screen of the Midnight Commander is divided into four parts. Almost all of the screen space is taken up by two directory panels. By default, the second line from the bottom of the screen is the shell command line, and the bottom line shows the function key labels. The topmost line is the menu bar line. The menu bar line may not be visible, but appears if you click the topmost line with the mouse or press the F9 key.
The Midnight Commander provides a view of two directories at the same time. One of the panels is the current panel (a selection bar is in the current panel). Almost all operations take place on the current panel. Some file operations like Rename and Copy by default use the directory of the unselected panel as a destination (don’t worry, they always ask you for confirmation first). For more information, see the sections on the Directory Panels, the Left and Right Menus and the File Menu.
You can execute system commands from the Midnight Commander by simply typing them. Everything you type will appear on the shell command line, and when you press Enter the Midnight Commander will execute the command line you typed; read the Shell Command Line and Input Line Keys sections to learn more about the command line.
4.2 GUI
There is a way, how to use Midnight Commander in the GUI of your router and thats with use of the router app Web Terminal. Once its installed, just open the router app and you will see a command line here. ADVANTECH Router App
Midnight Commander - Web Terminal and just like in the Command line section above, just type

mc

and here you go. Midnight Commander in your browser. ADVANTECH Router App
Midnight Commander - Web Terminal 1

Known issues and limitations

Subshell (CTRL+O) does not work, because ASH is not supported in the current version of subshell.c.
The original directory is restored after exiting mc and there is not way how to override the current directory for the parent shell. Command alias is disabled in the BusyBox configuration so it is not possible to use a wrapper.
Virtual file system (e.g. exploring content of .tar archives) is disabled.

[1] MC Manual Pages: https://linux.die.net/man/1/mc
You can obtain product-related documents on Engineering Portal at icr.advantech.cz address.
To get your router’s Quick Start Guide, User Manual, Configuration Manual, or Firmware go to the Router Models page, find the required model, and switch to the Manuals or Firmware tab, respectively.
The Router Apps installation packages and manuals are available on the Router Apps page.
For the Development Documents, go to the DevZone page.

Midnight Commander Manual

Documents / Resources

| ADVANTECH Router App Midnight Commander [pdf] User Guide
Router App Midnight Commander, App Midnight Commander, Midnight Commander, Commander
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