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Browse and Transfer Files

By the end of this tutorial you'll have browsed a device's filesystem and moved a file to and from it.

Goal​

Browse a device's filesystem, upload a local file to it, and download a file back.

Prerequisites​

  • A device onboarded per Connect your first device, online in Fleet Manager.
  • What you can do in the file browser depends on your workspace role — some roles are read-only or can't browse certain paths at all. See Troubleshooting below.

Open the file browser​

  1. Click Files in the sidebar. Pick your device from the FLEET list on the left — this opens a tab for it, starting at the filesystem root (/).

    You can also open a device's file browser directly from its own detail page, via its Files tab — that opens straight into /home/bringup instead of the root.

  2. Double-click a folder to open it. Use the back/forward/up/home buttons or the breadcrumb path at the top to navigate. The column headed Name, Size, or Modified can be clicked to sort by it. The left column also lists shortcuts to a few common paths (/, /opt, /var, /var/log, /tmp, /etc).

  3. If your role has less than full write access to the folder you're viewing, a badge next to the device address shows it (for example, "read-only · org-member"). Items you can't read at all show a lock icon and appear greyed out.

Upload a file​

  1. Click Upload.
  2. Your system's file picker opens. Choose one or more local files.
  3. The upload starts immediately into the folder you're currently viewing. Progress shows at the bottom of the window.

Download a file​

  1. Optionally select one or more files first (click one, or Cmd/Ctrl-click to select several).
  2. Click Download (it shows a count, like "Download (2)", once you've selected files).
  3. In the dialog, check the files you want — your selection is pre-checked, and select all / clear are shortcuts. Click Download again to confirm.
  1. Your system's folder picker opens. Choose where to save the files locally.

Other file operations​

  • New folder — click the folder icon in the toolbar. An inline field appears prefilled with new-folder; type a name and press Enter (Escape cancels).
  • Rename — select exactly one item and click Rename (or press F2). Edit the name inline and press Enter (Escape cancels).
  • Delete — select one or more items and click the trash icon. Confirm in the dialog that appears; this can't be undone from the desktop app.

All three require write access to the folder.

Verification​

  • The uploaded file appears in the listing once the transfer finishes — the view refreshes on its own. If it doesn't show up, click the refresh icon.
  • The downloaded file lands in the local folder you picked, and its transfer entry at the bottom of the window reaches 100%.

Troubleshooting​

  • Upload, New folder, Rename, or Delete are greyed out — you have read-only or metadata-only access to this folder. Check the role badge next to the device address, and ask your workspace admin for write access if you need it.
  • A row is greyed out with a lock icon — your role only has metadata-level access to that item: you can see it exists, but not read its contents, so downloading it is disabled. Some paths may not appear in a listing at all under a more restrictive role — they're simply omitted, not shown as an error.
  • "Filesystem unreachable" — the device is offline or in a fault state. The listing shown is cached from the last successful sync.
  • Upload, download, or rename fails with "requires a connected device" — the device isn't currently reachable over the network Bringup uses to reach it. Check its status in Fleet Manager and retry once it reconnects.
  • "device daemon needs an upgrade to browse files" — the device's bringupd agent is too old for this feature. Re-run the agent install command on the device to upgrade it.