export / import

Backup and restore paired hosts configuration.

Export

Usage

connecto export [-o <FILE>]

Options

Description

Exports all connecto-managed hosts (plus saved subnets) to JSON for backup or transfer to another machine.

Examples

Export to file:

connecto export -o ~/connecto-backup.json

Export to stdout:

connecto export

Pipe to clipboard (macOS):

connecto export | pbcopy

Export format

{
  "version": 1,
  "hosts": [
    {
      "host": "mydesktop",
      "hostname": "192.168.1.55",
      "user": "john",
      "identity_file": "/home/user/.ssh/connecto_mydesktop"
    }
  ],
  "subnets": ["10.0.2.0/24", "10.0.3.0/24"]
}

Note: The export contains SSH config entries only, not the actual key files. To fully backup/restore, you should also copy the key files from ~/.ssh/.

Import

Usage

connecto import <FILE>

Arguments

Description

Imports paired hosts from a previously exported JSON file. This:

1. Adds connecto-managed entries to ~/.ssh/config
2. Restores saved subnets to the config

It does not restore key files — copy those separately (see the export notes above). Files with an unsupported version are rejected.

Example

connecto import ~/connecto-backup.json

Output:

✓ Imported 2 host(s) to SSH config.
✓ Imported 2 subnet(s) to config.

Handling conflicts

Hosts whose alias already exists among the connecto-managed entries are skipped (exact alias match), so importing the same file twice never creates duplicates:

→ All hosts already exist in SSH config.

To replace an existing host, first unpair it:

connecto unpair mydesktop
connecto import backup.json

Use cases

Backup before reinstall

connecto export -o ~/Dropbox/connecto-backup.json
# Reinstall OS
connecto import ~/Dropbox/connecto-backup.json

Transfer to new machine

# On old machine
connecto export -o /tmp/connecto.json
scp /tmp/connecto.json newmachine:/tmp/

# On new machine
connecto import /tmp/connecto.json

Sync across machines

While not a true sync, you can share exports via cloud storage:

# Machine A
connecto export -o ~/Dropbox/connecto.json

# Machine B
connecto import ~/Dropbox/connecto.json

Security notes

• The export contains references to private keys (file paths), not the keys themselves
• The actual key files in ~/.ssh/ should be backed up separately
• For a complete backup, also copy the key files:

# Full backup
connecto export -o connecto-backup.json
cp ~/.ssh/connecto_* ~/backup/

Related commands