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Local Mount ​

The Local Mount feature lets you connect your InstaWP site to your local computer as if it were a folder on your hard drive. This makes it easy to browse, edit, and sync WordPress files directly from your file system; no FTP client needed.

In this documentation, we will explore how the local mount feature is accessible on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Let's explore the process. 🚀

Enable Local Mount in InstaWP ​

Go to the Sites page and click on your site to open the site settings.

Select Local Mount from the options and toggle on Enable Mount.

Once enabled, the page will display three pieces of information you'll need shortly: Server Address, Username, and Password. Keep this window open.

Now, open your local system. Go through the following options that is suitable on your system:

For Windows ​

Step 1: Go to My Computer and right click on it to open the options. Select Map Network Drive from the options. A pop-up window will appear.

Step 2: Now, copy the Server Address from the local mount window and paste it on the Folder option of the pop-up. Then click Finish.

Step 3: Another pop-up window will appear asking for username and password. Copy the username and password from the local mount window and paste it. You can check the remember credentials option for future login and click OK.

The site will be mounted within a few moment and you can open the mounted folder. All your WordPress files can be browsed here as if it is a local directory.

For MacOS ​

Step 1: Go to Finder and click on Go. Select Connect to Server from the options.

Step 2: Copy the server address from the local mount page and paste it on the Connect to Server window. Now, click Connect. A pop-up will appear asking for username and password.

Step 3: Copy the username and password from the local mount page and paste it on the new pop-up window. Then click Connect.

The folder will be mounted and you'll find it on the Locations tab.

For Linux ​

On Linux you can mount your site either through a graphical file manager or straight from the terminal. Pick whichever you prefer; both end up at the same mounted folder.

Option 1: GNOME Files (or KDE Dolphin) ​

Step 1: If you are on a minimal Ubuntu install and don't already have a graphical file manager, install GNOME Files along with the WebDAV support it needs.

bash
sudo apt update

Running sudo apt update in the terminal

bash
sudo apt install -y nautilus gvfs-backends gvfs-daemons dbus-x11

Installing nautilus and the gvfs WebDAV backends

Step 2: Launch GNOME Files.

bash
dbus-run-session -- nautilus

Launching GNOME Files from the terminal

Step 3: In the sidebar, click Network, then use the Connect to Server box at the bottom of the window.

GNOME Files Network view with the Connect to Server box

Step 4: Enter davs://, followed by the Server Address from the Local Mount page, followed by /insta-mount, then click Connect.

davs://SERVER-ADDRESS/insta-mount

Entering the davs:// address in GNOME Files

On KDE with Dolphin the steps are the same, except the address starts with webdavs:// instead.

webdavs://SERVER-ADDRESS/insta-mount

Entering the webdavs:// address for KDE Dolphin

Step 5: Enter the Username and Password from the Local Mount page. Tick Remember password so you only do this once, then click Connect.

WebDAV login prompt asking for username and password

Your site now appears in the sidebar as insta-mount, and you can browse the WordPress files like any other folder.

Mounted InstaWP site shown in the GNOME Files sidebar

Option 2: Terminal (davfs2) ​

Step 1: Install davfs2, which lets Linux mount the InstaWP site as a regular folder.

bash
sudo apt install davfs2

Installing davfs2

Step 2: Create a local folder where the site will appear.

bash
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/mysite

Creating the /mnt/mysite mount folder

Step 3: Mount your site to that folder using the Server Address from the Local Mount page. You will be prompted for the username and password shown there.

bash
sudo mount -t davfs https://SERVER-ADDRESS/insta-mount/ /mnt/mysite

Mounting the site with davfs and entering the credentials

Once connected, your WordPress installation is available under /mnt/mysite.

WordPress files listed under /mnt/mysite

Step 4 (recommended): Make two small changes to the davfs2 configuration. These prevent delays when uploading changes and help if saving files through the mount hangs.

bash
sudo nano /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf

Opening /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf in nano

Find the following two lines, uncomment them by removing the #, and set both to 0:

delay_upload 0
use_locks 0

The delay_upload and use_locks settings set to 0

Save the file and remount the site. You can now edit the files in /mnt/mysite with your editor of choice; save a file and refresh your site to see the change immediately.

To unmount when you're done:

bash
sudo umount /mnt/mysite

| 📌 Credentials are site-specific. The username and password shown on the Local Mount page belong to this site only. If you mount multiple sites, each will have its own credentials.

| 💡 Did you know - You could create a new SFTP/SSH user and utilize the connection to establish a single sign-on for your InstaWP hosted site without any login credentials of that user.

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