Connect Machines

TL;DR

Connect any machine to CMDOP by running cmdop connect. This registers the machine, starts the background agent, and establishes a secure outbound tunnel. Supports named connections, tags for organization, headless servers, and shared team machines. The agent auto-reconnects on drops and adds the ccat shell alias for syntax-highlighted file viewing.

Make any machine accessible through Cmdop.

How do I quickly connect a machine?


# Register this machine and start the background agent
cmdop connect

This registers the current machine and starts the agent.

How do I connect with a custom name?


# Assign a friendly hostname for easy identification
cmdop connect --name "production-server"

How do I add tags to a connection?


# Tag machine for filtering and organization
cmdop connect --tags "production,web,us-east"

What happens during the connection process?

Authentication - Verifies your credentials
Registration - Registers machine with Cmdop servers
Agent Start - Starts background daemon
Tunnel Setup - Establishes secure connection
Shell Aliases - Adds ccat alias for syntax highlighting

What shell aliases does CMDOP add?

When you connect, Cmdop automatically adds the ccat alias to your shell profile for syntax-highlighted file viewing:


ccat main.py        # View code with syntax highlighting
ccat -n config.yaml # With line numbers

To skip automatic alias setup:


cmdop connect --no-aliases

What machine types can I connect?

Personal Machines

Your own computers that you directly manage.


cmdop connect

Servers

Remote servers without GUI.


cmdop connect --headless

Shared Machines

Machines shared with your team.


cmdop connect --workspace my-team

How do I verify the connection?


# Check if the agent is running and connected
cmdop agent status

Expected output:


Agent Status: Running
Machine ID: abc123
Connected: Yes
Uptime: 2h 34m

How do I troubleshoot connection issues?

Firewall Issues

Cmdop uses outbound connections only. Ensure these are allowed:

wss://relay.cmdop.com:443
https://api.cmdop.com:443

Behind Proxy


# Set proxy before connecting if behind a corporate firewall
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
cmdop connect

Connection Drops

The agent automatically reconnects. Check logs:


cmdop agent logs

How do I disconnect a machine?

Temporary disconnect:


# Stop the agent but keep machine registered
cmdop disconnect

Remove machine completely:


# Unregister machine and remove from workspace
cmdop disconnect --remove