coreelec:term_share

Terminal Sharing

CoreELECs Terminal Sharing Service provides a secure, instant and easy-to-use solution via SSH, allowing Team CoreELEC Developers to connect to a device remotely for troubleshooting purposes.

The terminal sharing feature is only available with Amlogic-ne distributions.

  • select Settings

  • select CoreELEC

  • select Services

Setting Default Notes
Enable terminal sharing OFF Enables or disables terminal sharing
Send invitation code to CoreELEC developers OFF Turning this option ON allows the CE Development Team to start a remote debugging session with the device
Access control key User key Allows to select the type of access control key (used only in private mode)
Connection name Enter the connection name here

How does it work?

CoreELEC Terminal Sharing uses the tmate service which can be run in two modes:

Developer Mode

Use this mode only when asked by CoreELEC developers, either in the forum or by private message.

Establish a support session

This connection is created by using a CoreELEC private/public key pair.

The private key is known only to CoreELEC developers, meaning only CE developers can connect to the device.

  • turn on Enable terminal sharing
  • enter your CoreELEC forum username under Connection name
  • turn on Send invitation code to CoreELEC developers

This will establish a secure connection between the device and the CoreELEC Server.

Private Mode

This connection mode is for personal use without CoreELEC developers involvement. Use at your own risk.

In this mode, access is controlled by the SSH private/public key pair which is automatically created and saved in: 

/storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/service.coreelec.settings/tmate_id_ed25519_user.[pub/priv]
  • If User key is selected, the SSH connection can only be made with the corresponding private key.
  • If None is selected no SSH keys will be used, allowing anyone to connect.

CAUTION: if no keys are specified both Web Access & SSH are enabled. This could lead to unsecured connections, allowing anyone to connect.

More information on asymmetric cryptography

Obtain connection data

To obtain connection data, use the following command line:

1. for SSH access 

tmate -p '#{tmate_ssh}'

2. for Web access 

tmate -p '#{tmate_web}'

Establish a connection

Example: 

ssh -i tmate_id_ed25319_user.priv coreelec/username-921a434607edc8ed147b66f7a9a4ffde@lon1.tmate.io

Terminate a connection

  • select key combination CTRL + b
  • select d

Further Reading

tmate.io tmate user documentation
We love tmate Article: Why tmate makes the perfect Instant Terminal Sharing Tool for Live Troubleshooting