pyRemoteMPC

pyRemoteMPC ( python Remote Multi-Protocol Connections ) is a native multi-protocol remote connections manager designed specifically for GNU/Linux environments.

The project serves as a modern, native Python replacement and spiritual successor to mRemoteNG for Linux, built with PySide6 (Qt6) and native connectivity engines.

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Current Version

• Version: 0.1b (First Beta Release)

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Key Features

• Multi-Format Connection Import Engine:
  • mRemoteNG: Full import and export compatibility for confCons.xml (v2.5 and v2.6+ AEAD GCM) files.
  • SecureCRT: Import XML session configurations (<VanDyke>).
  • Asbrú Connection Manager: Import YAML configurations (.yml / .yaml) with automatic - copy cleaning.
  • Microsoft RDCMan: Import .rdg and XML remote desktop trees (<RDCMan>).
  • Interactive Import Dialog: Choose a custom root container name and icon for imported folders.
• Modern & Fluid Qt6 UI:
  • Dockable sidebar with horizontal slide toggle button.
  • Hierarchical connection tree with dedicated icons per OS / service (windows, terminal, vnc, serial, connections, etc.).
  • Context menu options: Up, Down, and Clone (Duplicate node). Root container node is protected against deletion or move.
  • Real-time search filter across names, hostnames/IPs, usernames, and descriptions.
  • Property Inspector (PropertyGridWidget) collapsible vertically with a dedicated toggle button.
  • Window Geometry & State Persistence: Automatically saves and restores position, window dimensions, active screen, and maximized state upon application restart.
  • Enforced 11px font size across the entire application interface for clean, consistent UI readability.
• Single Instance per User:
  • Automatically detects if pyRemoteMPC is already open for the active Linux user ID via IPC sockets (QLocalServer/QLocalSocket). If launched again, it smoothly brings the existing window to the front and exits. Different Linux user accounts can run their own independent instances concurrently.
• Quick Connect Toolbar: Connect instantly or save entries directly specifying IP/HOSTNAME / SERIAL PORT - PROTOCOL - BAUD / PORT - DOMAIN - USER - PASSWORD.
• Standardized Session Titles & Info Banners:
  • Saved Connections: PROTOCOL: SavedName (IP:Port / SerialPort)
  • Quick Connections: PROTOCOL: Host (IP:Port / SerialPort)
• Advanced Security & Access Control:
  • Master Password management in Preferences & Options -> Security tab.
  • Startup Password Option: Choose whether to require the Master Password on application startup (require_master_password_on_startup).
  • Continue Without Passwords (Read-Only Mode): Allows opening the app to view, browse, and copy the full connection tree structure without decrypting passwords. Disk auto-saving is automatically blocked in this mode to protect the owner's encrypted confCons.xml on disk.
  • Zero Plaintext Storage: Only salted PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 hashes (200,000 iterations + 16-byte random salt) are saved to settings.json. Connections are encrypted with AES-256-GCM / AES-128-CBC.

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Supported Connection Protocols

Protocol	Internal Engine	Highlight Features
SSH2	paramiko + pyte	Integrated VT100/xterm terminal emulator, infinite scrollback buffer, SSH private key support (RSA, ED25519, ECDSA, OpenSSH PEM, PuTTY .ppk), visual key selector dialog, and integrated SFTP/FTP/SCP file manager per session.
SSH1	Legacy Crypto Engine	Compatibility engine specifically designed for legacy routers, switches, and ancient network hardware requiring obsolete ciphers (3des-cbc, blowfish-cbc, diffie-hellman-group1-sha1, ssh-rsa).
SFTP / FTP / SCP	paramiko / ftplib / scp	Integrated tabbed file transfer interface per active session with upload, download, and local/remote filesystem browsing supporting SFTP, FTP, and SCP protocols.
RDP	xfreerdp (FreeRDP 2/3)	Native tab embedding via X11 XEmbed container (xcb backend). Dynamic resolution matching, clipboard sharing, local shared drive mapping, and credential redirection.
VNC	Native / vncviewer	Remote desktop support with UltraVNC MSLogon (Type 11), Standard VNC (Type 2), or Auto security negotiation.
TELNET	telnetlib + pyte	Interactive terminal console for unencrypted network devices.
SERIAL	pyserial + pyte	Direct serial port communication (/dev/ttyUSB*, /dev/ttyACM*, /dev/COM*, /dev/ttyS*, /dev/rfcomm*, /tmp/ttyCOM* virtual socat ports) with dropdown port selector and rescan button (🔄).

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Architecture & Directory Structure

pyRemoteMPC/
├── version.txt                   # Application version identifier (0.1b)
├── run.sh                        # Convenience launcher script
├── install.sh                    # Automated cross-distro installation script
├── uninstall.sh                  # Automated cross-distro uninstallation script
├── pyremotempc.desktop            # Linux desktop launcher entry
├── requirements.txt              # Python PIP dependencies
├── setup.py                      # Package setup script
└── pyremotempc/
    ├── app.py                    # Main Qt application entry point
    ├── version.txt               # Package version identifier
    ├── config/
    │   ├── models.py             # Data models (ConnectionNode, etc.)
    │   ├── settings.py           # JSON preferences manager (~/.config/pyremotempc/settings.json)
    │   ├── i18n.py               # Localization system (English)
    │   ├── version.py            # Dynamic version reader module
    │   ├── xml_parser.py         # mRemoteNG confCons.xml import/export parser
    │   ├── securecrt_parser.py   # SecureCRT XML session parser
    │   ├── asbru_parser.py       # Asbrú Connection Manager YAML parser
    │   └── rdcman_parser.py      # Microsoft RDCMan RDG/XML parser
    ├── crypto/
    │   ├── aead_gcm.py           # AEAD GCM cipher engine
    │   ├── rijndael_legacy.py    # Legacy Rijndael CBC cipher engine
    │   └── master_key_manager.py # AES encryption and PBKDF2 Master Password security
    ├── engine/
    │   ├── rdp_engine.py         # RDP session orchestrator using xfreerdp
    │   ├── ssh_engine.py         # SSH2 engine with Paramiko and pyte
    │   ├── ssh1_engine.py        # SSH1 engine for legacy hardware
    │   ├── serial_engine.py      # Serial engine using pyserial and pyte
    │   ├── vnc_engine.py         # VNC session engine
    │   ├── telnet_engine.py      # Telnet console engine
    │   └── sftp_engine.py        # SFTP/FTP file manager engine
    ├── plugins/
    │   ├── plugin_manager.py     # Protocol plugin registry manager
    │   ├── ssh_plugin.py         # SSH protocol plugin
    │   ├── rdp_plugin.py         # RDP protocol plugin
    │   ├── serial_plugin.py      # Serial protocol plugin
    │   ├── vnc_plugin.py         # VNC protocol plugin
    │   └── telnet_plugin.py     # Telnet protocol plugin
    ├── utils/
    │   ├── key_loader.py         # Private key parsing helper
    │   └── serial_utils.py       # Serial port system scanning helper
    └── ui/
        ├── main_window.py        # Main window, layouts, toolbars, and menus
        ├── tree_widget.py        # Hierarchical connection tree
        ├── property_grid.py      # Node property inspector
        ├── tab_widget.py         # Active session tab manager
        ├── terminal_widget.py    # Terminal console renderer
        ├── preferences_dialog.py # Preferences & Options (General, Terminal, RDP, Security)
        ├── sftp_transfer_dialog.py # SFTP background transfer progress dialog
        ├── sftp_widget.py        # Graphical file transfer interface
        ├── theme_manager.py      # QSS visual styling & dark theme manager
        ├── vnc_widget.py         # VNC rendering widget
        ├── icon_manager.py       # PNG icon loader per protocol and node type
        ├── dialogs/
        │   ├── about_dialog.py   # About pyRemoteMPC information dialog
        │   ├── import_folder_dialog.py # Custom import root folder naming dialog
        │   ├── key_selector_dialog.py # SSH key selection dialog
        │   └── master_password_dialog.py # Master key & Continue Without Passwords dialog
        └── iconos/               # Application icon assets (`pyremotempc.png`, `serial.png`, etc.)

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Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

• Python: 3.10 or higher.
• Operating System: GNU/Linux.
• System Packages: python3, python3-pip, python3-venv, python3-dev, freerdp (or freerdp2-x11/freerdp3-x11), tigervnc (or tigervnc-viewer), socat, telnet, openssh-client, sshpass, pulseaudio-utils (pactl).
• Python Dependencies (installed automatically via requirements.txt / installer): PySide6>=6.5.0, cryptography>=41.0.0, paramiko>=3.0.0, pyte>=0.8.0, pyserial>=3.5, pyyaml>=6.0.

Automated Cross-Distro Installer

install.sh automatically detects your package manager and installs all required system and Python dependencies across major Linux distributions:

• APT: Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Kali, Elementary, Zorin, Deepin.
• DNF: Fedora, RHEL 8/9, CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux.
• YUM: RHEL 7, CentOS 7, Amazon Linux.
• Pacman: Arch Linux, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, Garuda.
• Zypper: openSUSE (Leap & Tumbleweed), SLES.
• APK: Alpine Linux.
• XBPS: Void Linux.
• EOPKG: Solus.
• Portage / Emerge: Gentoo.

Run the installer with root privileges:

chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh

To uninstall:

chmod +x uninstall.sh
sudo ./uninstall.sh

Manual Quick Start

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/adrianandin0/pyRemoteMPC.git
cd pyRemoteMPC

# 2. Run convenience script
./run.sh

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Author & Contact Information

• Author: Adrián Andino
• Contact: adrianandino@pm.me
• X: @adrian_and_ino
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/adrianandin0/pyRemoteMPC

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Credits & Acknowledgements

Icons and graphical assets from Flaticon by magnific.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.