Tutorial: Tools
This tutorial demonstrates the productivity tools built into rdc: SSH terminal access, file synchronization, VS Code integration, and CLI updates.
Prerequisites
- The
rdcCLI installed with a config initialized - A provisioned machine with a running repository (see Tutorial: Repository Lifecycle)
Interactive Recording
What You’ll See
The recording above walks through each step below. Use the playback bar to navigate between commands.
Step 1: Connect to a machine
rdc term server-1 -c "hostname"
rdc term server-1 -c "uptime"
Run inline commands on a remote machine via SSH. The -c flag executes a single command and returns the output without opening an interactive session.
Step 2: Connect to a repository
rdc term server-1 my-app -c "docker ps"
When connecting to a repository, DOCKER_HOST is automatically set to the repository’s isolated Docker socket. Any Docker command runs against that repository’s containers only.
Step 3: Preview file sync (dry-run)
rdc sync upload -m server-1 -r my-app --local ./src --dry-run
The --dry-run flag previews what would be transferred without actually uploading files. Shows new files, changed files, and total transfer size.
Step 4: Upload files
rdc sync upload -m server-1 -r my-app --local ./src
Transfers files from your local machine to the remote repository mount via rsync over SSH.
Step 5: Verify uploaded files
rdc term server-1 my-app -c "ls -la"
Confirm the files arrived by listing the repository’s mount directory.
Step 6: VS Code integration check
rdc vscode check
Verifies your VS Code installation, Remote SSH extension, and SSH configuration for remote development. Shows which settings need to be configured.
Step 7: Check for CLI updates
rdc update --check-only
Checks if a newer version of the rdc CLI is available without applying it. Use rdc update (without --check-only) to install the update.
Next Steps
- Tools — full reference for terminal, sync, VS Code, and update commands
- Tutorial: Backup & Restore — backup, restore, and scheduled sync
- Services — Rediaccfile reference and service networking