Remote File Browser
Browse an online agent's drives and folders straight from the console — list directories, view and edit text files, create files and folders, and delete items on the remote machine, without opening a full remote-desktop session.
The File Browser is a live tab on the agent details screen. It lets an operator inspect and manage the file system of a managed machine on demand: pick a drive, walk the folder tree, open a text file to read or edit it in place, drop in a new file or folder, or remove something — all against the agent as it runs right now. It is a lightweight alternative to a full remote-desktop session when all you need is to grab a log, fix a config file, or clear out a directory.
The File Browser works entirely over the agent's existing secure connection — there is no separate share, drive mapping, or inbound port on the endpoint. Every request is answered by the agent itself, so the browser only ever sees what the agent's account can see.
Opening the File Browser#
Open an agent from the Dashboard or agent list, then choose File Browser in the agent-details side navigation. You can also jump straight to a specific volume by using the Browse action next to a disk in the agent's Storage section, which opens the File Browser already pointed at that drive.
The File Browser tab is laid out as:
- A drive selector and a breadcrumb of the current path across the top.
- A folder tree on the left that expands folders on demand.
- A content panel on the right that lists the files and folders in the current directory, or shows the in-place text editor when you open a file.
Drives are populated from the agent's collected inventory. On
Windows the drive list is the machine's ready volumes; on Linux you get the root filesystem
(/) plus mounted volumes.
Who can use it#
The File Browser is restricted to the Operator and Admin roles. Helpdesk and read-only users see a "no permission" message on the tab instead of the browser. This matches the other live, machine-changing tools such as remote commands.
| Action | Minimum role |
|---|---|
| Browse drives & folders, view / edit files, create & delete files and folders | Operator |
See Roles & Permissions for the full role model.
File operations run with the privileges of the agent's own service account, which is typically a high-privilege local account. Creating, editing, and especially deleting files on a production machine can break applications or the operating system. Treat the File Browser like direct console access and restrict the Operator/Admin roles accordingly.
The agent must be online#
Every File Browser action is answered by the agent in real time, so the target agent must be Online. If the agent is offline the tab shows a banner — "Agent is offline. File browser operations require an online agent." — and the create-file and create-folder actions are disabled. If a request is sent to an agent that is not connected, the operation fails with "Agent is not connected".
Browsing drives & folders#
Pick a drive to load its top-level contents, then click folders in the tree or the file list to drill in. The breadcrumb shows where you are and lets you jump back up the path. Each directory listing includes both files and folders, and for every entry the browser shows:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Name | File or folder name, with an icon indicating the type |
| Size | File size (folders show as -) |
| Modified | Last-modified date and time reported by the agent |
| Actions | Edit (for text files) and Delete |
Hidden items are included in listings; operating-system-flagged system items are omitted. Folders are loaded lazily — the agent only reports a folder's children when you expand it, so browsing a deep tree stays responsive. If a directory can't be read (for example, a location the agent's account has no rights to), the browser surfaces the error rather than silently showing an empty folder.
Viewing & editing files#
Text files can be opened in an in-place editor: click Edit on a file to load its contents into a text area, make changes, and Save to write them back to the agent. This is ideal for quick fixes to logs, configuration files, and scripts without a full remote session.
Only files the agent considers editable expose the Edit action. A file is treated as editable when it has a recognised text extension — common examples include:
- Text & data:
.txt,.log,.md,.csv,.json,.xml,.yml/.yaml - Configuration:
.ini,.cfg,.conf,.config, and dotfiles such as.envor.editorconfig(on Linux, unit files such as.service,.timer, and.mountas well) - Scripts & code:
.ps1,.psm1,.bat,.cmd,.sh, plus many language and web source extensions
Files without a known text extension, and files that turn out to contain binary data when read, are not offered for editing. Very large files are also excluded from in-place editing — text editing is intended for reasonably sized configuration and log files, not multi-gigabyte data files.
Saving replaces the whole file with the editor's contents (encoded as UTF-8). There is no built-in versioning, so keep your own backup before editing critical files. To distribute the same file to many machines at once, use Software Deployment instead of editing each agent by hand.
Creating & deleting items#
With a folder open, use New File or New Folder to add items in the current directory:
- New File — enter a name and optional initial content. The file is created in the current directory and, if you supplied content, the content is written into it.
- New Folder — enter a name to create a directory. Missing parent directories in the path are created as needed.
Every entry in the list also has a Delete action. Deleting a file removes it; deleting a folder removes the folder and its contents, after a confirmation prompt that warns the whole folder and everything in it will be removed. Because deletes are carried out by the agent against the live file system, they are immediate and not recoverable from within Athena.
Size & timeout limits#
The File Browser is built for interactive management of individual files, and applies practical limits so a single request can't stall the console:
| Operation | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Directory / drive listing | Times out if the agent does not respond within about 30 seconds |
| Read, write, create, delete | Allowed up to about 5 minutes to accommodate larger reads |
| File read size | Single reads are capped at 64 MB |
| In-place text editing | Intended for reasonably sized text files; large files are not offered for editing |
For moving or retrieving very large files, or for anything that needs an interactive desktop, use a full remote session instead. If an operation exceeds its timeout the browser reports "Request timed out"; retry once the agent is responsive.
Troubleshooting#
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Agent is offline…" banner; New File / New Folder disabled | The agent is not Online. File Browser needs a live connection — wait for the agent to reconnect. |
| "Agent is not connected" | The request reached the server but the agent's connection had dropped. Refresh once it is back Online. |
| "Request timed out" | The agent did not answer within the allowed window (listings ~30s; read/write ~5 min). Retry, or use a smaller scope. |
| No Edit action on a file | The file isn't a recognised text type, is too large, or contains binary data — it can't be edited in place. |
| A folder shows an error instead of contents | The agent's service account likely lacks permission to read that location. |
The File Browser is a console feature reached through the agent-details screen; it is not exposed as a standalone REST endpoint or PowerShell cmdlet. To push files to many machines at scale, script it with Software Deployment or remote commands via the PowerShell module.