How to Manage Files using File Manager on Paas.id

How to Manage Files using File Manager on Paas.id

Introduction

Your web application consists of files that need to be managed from time to time, either its for bug fixes, improvements or upgrades. Therefore, Paas.id provide a built-in web based file manager. The file manager is installed upon connecting your server to Paas.id.

In this guide, we will learn about managing files using file manager on Paas.id.

Prerequisites

  1. Have installed a web server on Paas.id
  2. Have installed a web application on Paas.id

Step 1 - Login to your Paas.id Account

Login to your Paas.id account via https://dash.paas.id/auth/login.

Step 2 - Navigate to Server File Manager Page

Paas.id servers page

From the servers page, you need to open the server details page by clicking on the server name.

Paas.id server detail page

On the server detail page, you need to open the server file manager page by clicking "File Manager" menu on the left sidebar.

Paas.id server file manager page

How to Access & Login To File Manager

On the server file manager page, there is a URL link to access the file manager. Here also provided file manager credentials for login purposes. Now open the URL link, the file manager screen should look like the image below.

File manager login page

Now login to the file manager and the screen should look like the image below.

File manager main page

File & Folder Detail

File manager columns detail

There is information about the files and folders, such as name, size, modified date, permission code, and owner & group. You can sort by name, size, or modified date by clicking the column header.

Create File / Folder

To create a file / folder, click the "New Item" menu from the menu bar. A dialog box will appear.

File manager menu bar
File manager create item dialog box

Now, select the item type and fill the item name.

File manager create item dialog box - filled 

Click the "Create Now" button. The file will be created in the directory where you are now.

File manager create item - success

Update File

To update a file, click the file name. You will be navigated to item detail page.

File manager item detail page

Now, click the "Edit" or "Advanced Editor" menu.

File manager normal editor
File manager advanced editor

The difference between the normal editor and the advanced editor is the advanced editor have some features such as syntax highlighting for programming script, themes, full-screen editor, undo-redo button, search button, and word wrap.

Now, write some code and click the "Save" button on the top right side. A notification will appear on the bottom of screen.

File manager saving notification

View File

To view a file, click the eye icon from the actions field. A modal box that contains file content will appear.

File manager actions menu
File manager view button
File manager view file modal

Rename File / Folder

To rename a file / folder, click the pencil icon from the actions field. A browser's dialog will appear.

File manager actions menu
File manager rename button
Browser rename file dialog

Fill the new name field and click the "OK" button. You will be navigated to the main page and you should see the success notification.

File manager rename success notification

Upload File

To upload a file, click the "Upload" menu from the menu bar. You will be navigated to upload page.

File manager menu bar
File manager upload page

You can drag & drop files to the upload page or click the drop area to select a file.

File manager upload page uploaded

You also can upload file from URL by clicking the "Upload from URL" tab.

File manager upload from URL

Fill the URL field and click the "Upload" button.

File manager upload page uploaded by URL

You should see the success notification.

Delete File / Folder

To delete a file / folder, click the trash icon from the actions field. A browser's dialog will appear.

File manager actions menu
File manager rename button
Browser delete file dialog

Click the "OK" button. You will be navigated to the main page and you should see the success notification.

File manager delete success notification

Change File's / Folder's Permission

To change a file's / folder's permission, click the permission code on the permission field. You will be navigated to change permission page.

File manager permission field
File manager change permission page
File manager change permission page - new permission

Set the new permission by toggling on/off the checkbox. After that, click the "Change" button. You will be navigated to the main page and you should see the success notification.

File manager change permission success notification

Backup File

To backup a file, click the file name. You will be navigated to item detail page.

File manager item detail page

Now, click the "Editor " or "Advanced Editor" menu.

File manager editor action menu

Click the "Back Up" button from the editor action menu. A notification will appear on the bottom of screen.

File manager backup notification

The backup file are created in the same directory as the original file.

Move / Copy File

To move / copy a file, click the two-document icon from the actions field. You will be navigated to copy page.

File manager actions menu
File manager copy to button
File manager copy page

Traverse to your destination folder by clicking a folder or the back button. After you reach the destination folder, click the "Copy" or "Move" button.  You will be navigated to the main page on destination folder and you should see the success notification.

Search File / Folder

There is two type of searching, the basic and the advanced one. The difference between the basic searching and the advanced searching is the advanced searching will search recursively from the current directory to all subdirectories.

Let's start with the basic one. To search a file / folder, fill the search field from the menu bar. All of file & folder in the current directory matched the keyword will be filtered.

File manager menu bar
File manager main page before filtered
File manager main page after filtered

Now the advanced one. To search a file / folder, click dropdown icon beside search icon. Then click the "Advanced Search". A search modal will appear.

File manager search dropdown
File manager advanced search modal

Fill the search field and hit "Enter" button or click the search button. All of file & folder matched the keyword will be filtered.

File manager advanced search

Archive Files

To archive file, you need to select the files by toggle on the checkbox on the left side of the file's name.

File manager toggling on the checkboxes

After that, click the "Zip" or "Tar" button on the bottom action field. A browser's dialog will appear.

File manager bottom action field
Browser archive dialog

Click the "OK" button. You will be navigated to the main page and you should see the success notification.

File manager archive success notification

Unarchive File

To unarchive file, click the file name. You will be navigated to item detail page.

File manager item detail page

You can see what files are in that archive file. Now, click the "UnZip" or "UnZip to folder" menu. The "UnZip to folder" menu will create a folder with the same name as the archive's filename and unarchive the file to that folder. You will be navigated to the main page and you should see the success notification.

File manager unarchive success notification

Bulk Actions

In case you need to do the same action for some files, you can do that with bulk actions. In File Manager, bulk actions supported are copying, archiving, and deleting files (check the bottom action field).

File manager bottom action field

Let's try with deleting files. Firstly, you need to select the files by toggle on the checkbox on the left side of the file's name.

File manager main page - items selected

After that, click the "Delete" button from the bottom action field. A browser's dialog will appear.

Browser bulk delete dialog

Click the "OK" button. You will be navigated to the main page and you should see the success notification.

File manager bulk delete success notification

Bulk copying and archiving have similar step as bulk deleting.