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Headless Linux Installation

This guide covers installing File Mover Express as a headless CLI daemon on Linux — no desktop environment required. This is the recommended setup for remote servers, render farms, and cloud instances where you want to run transfers unattended or control them remotely from a GUI on another machine.

Download​

Download the CLI binary for your architecture from the Releases page:

ArchitectureFile
x86_64 (Intel/AMD)filemoverexpress-linux-amd64
ARM64 (Graviton, etc.)filemoverexpress-linux-arm64

Install​

# Download (replace URL with the latest release)
curl -Lo filemoverexpress https://github.com/awslabs/filemoverexpress/releases/latest/download/filemoverexpress-linux-amd64

# Make executable and move to PATH
chmod +x filemoverexpress
sudo mv filemoverexpress /usr/local/bin/

# Verify
filemoverexpress --version

Configure AWS credentials​

File Mover Express uses AWS named profiles for authentication. Install the AWS CLI and configure a profile:

# Install AWS CLI (if not already present)
# See https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/getting-started-install.html

# Create a named profile with your credentials
aws configure --profile my-studio

You'll be prompted for:

  • AWS Access Key ID
  • AWS Secret Access Key
  • Default region (e.g. us-west-2)
  • Default output format (press Enter to skip)

Configure File Mover Express​

Create the configuration directory and file:

mkdir -p ~/.filemoverexpress

Create ~/.filemoverexpress/configuration.yaml:

transferProfiles:
  my-studio:
    profile: my-studio
    bucket: your-bucket-name
    region: us-west-2
    remoteConfigurations:
      - remoteConfigurationName: rushes
        s3DestinationFolder: incoming/rushes

See Configuration for all available options including checksums, bandwidth throttling, and hot folders.

Run the daemon​

Basic (local only)​

Start the daemon for local CLI transfers:

filemoverexpress daemon

Remote access (connect from GUI on another machine)​

To allow the GUI on another machine to connect and control transfers remotely:

1. Set up a pre-shared key (PSK) for authentication:

filemoverexpress crypto encrypt

Follow the prompts to encrypt your chosen password. Say yes when asked to save it to the configuration file.

2. Start with remote access enabled:

export FME_PSK_SECRET="your-secret-passphrase"
filemoverexpress daemon --remote

See Remote Daemon Configuration for full details on TLS and security setup.

Run as a systemd service​

For production use, run the daemon as a systemd service so it starts automatically and restarts on failure.

Create /etc/systemd/system/filemoverexpress.service:

[Unit]
Description=File Mover Express daemon
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=fme
Group=fme
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/filemoverexpress daemon --remote
Environment=FME_PSK_SECRET=your-secret-passphrase
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Security note: For production, use a systemd credential or EnvironmentFile to store the PSK rather than embedding it directly in the unit file.

Enable and start:

# Create a dedicated user (optional but recommended)
sudo useradd --system --create-home --shell /usr/sbin/nologin fme

# Copy config to the fme user's home
sudo mkdir -p /home/fme/.filemoverexpress
sudo cp ~/.filemoverexpress/configuration.yaml /home/fme/.filemoverexpress/
sudo chown -R fme:fme /home/fme/.filemoverexpress

# Copy AWS credentials
sudo mkdir -p /home/fme/.aws
sudo cp ~/.aws/credentials /home/fme/.aws/
sudo cp ~/.aws/config /home/fme/.aws/
sudo chown -R fme:fme /home/fme/.aws

# Enable and start the service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable filemoverexpress
sudo systemctl start filemoverexpress

# Check status
sudo systemctl status filemoverexpress
sudo journalctl -u filemoverexpress -f

Scripting transfers​

Once the daemon is running (or even without it for one-shot transfers), you can script uploads and downloads directly:

# Upload a directory
filemoverexpress upload my-studio ./camera-rolls/day-01/

# Download from S3
filemoverexpress download my-studio ./local-output/ incoming/rushes/

# Upload with specific remote configuration
filemoverexpress upload my-studio ./footage/ --remote-configuration rushes

Connect from the GUI​

On a macOS or Windows machine running the File Mover Express desktop app:

  1. Open the File System dropdown in the Local browser panel
  2. Select Add Remote Daemon
  3. Enter the hostname/IP and port (default: 50006) of the Linux server
  4. Enter the PSK password you configured

You can now browse the remote server's filesystem and drag-and-drop transfers as if you were sitting at that machine.

Firewall considerations​

If running with remote access, ensure the daemon port is accessible:

# UFW (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo ufw allow 50006/tcp

# firewalld (RHEL/CentOS)
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=50006/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Next steps​