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https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy

pcopy is a temporary file host, nopaste and clipboard across machines. It can be used from the Web UI, via a CLI or without a client by using curl.
https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy

clipboard copy-paste curl golang netcat nopaste pastebin self-hosted

Last synced: 12 days ago
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pcopy is a temporary file host, nopaste and clipboard across machines. It can be used from the Web UI, via a CLI or without a client by using curl.

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README 

        
# pcopy

[![Release](https://img.shields.io/github/release/binwiederhier/pcopy.svg?color=success&style=flat-square)](https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/releases/latest)

[![Go Reference](https://pkg.go.dev/badge/heckel.io/pcopy.svg)](https://pkg.go.dev/heckel.io/pcopy)

[![Tests](https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/workflows/test/badge.svg)](https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/actions)

[![Go Report Card](https://goreportcard.com/badge/github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy)](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy)

[![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/binwiederhier/pcopy/branch/master/graph/badge.svg?token=bdrFZttMsk)](https://codecov.io/gh/binwiederhier/pcopy)

[![Slack channel](https://img.shields.io/badge/slack-@gophers/pcopy-success.svg?logo=slack)](https://gophers.slack.com/archives/C01JMTPGF2Q)



pcopy is a tool to copy/paste across machines. It can be used from the [web UI](#web-ui-for-uploading-text-snippets-or-large-files),

via a CLI or without a client by using curl. It can also be used as a self-hosted NoPaste or as a temporary file hosting service.



After installing the pcopy server, you can use the `pcopy` command line tool to copy from STDIN (`pcp < file.txt`) and 

paste on any connected machine to STDOUT (`ppaste > file.txt`). If you don't have pcopy installed, you can also use its

super simple REST API to copy/paste, e.g. via `curl`.



The web UI allows you to paste text or upload files (even if they are gigabytes in size), and generates 

temporary links you can share with others. 



To see what else pcopy can do, check out the **[live demo](#demo)** (aka [nopaste.net](https://nopaste.net)) or the **[videos](#videos)**.



**Features:**

* 📋 Copy/paste across computers (via STDIN/STDOUT)

* 🔒 HTTPS secure server (via cert-pinning)

* 🔑 Clipboards can be [password-protected](#password-protected-clipboard), or they can be open for everyone

* 📚 Support for [multiple clipboards](#support-for-multiple-clipboards) (e.g. personal, work, ...)

* 🌎 Simple [Web UI](#web-ui-for-uploading-text-snippets-or-large-files) for uploading text snippets or large files

* 🔗 Direct [temporary links](#direct-temporary-links-to-clipboard-content-with-ttlexpiration) to clipboard content (with TTL/expiration) 

* 💻 No-install usage via [curl](#curl-compatible-usage) (`curl nopaste.net`) and [netcat](#nc-compatible-usage) (`echo help | nc -N nopaste.net 9999`)

* 👁️ [Browser-only links](#browser-only-links-that-store-your-data-in-the-url-fragment) that store your data in the URL fragment 



![pcopy demo](assets/demo-simple.gif)



## Installation

Binaries can be found on the [releases page](https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/releases). 



**Debian/Ubuntu** (*from a repository*)**:**   

```bash

curl -sSL https://archive.heckel.io/apt/pubkey.txt | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt install apt-transport-https

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb [arch=amd64] https://archive.heckel.io/apt debian main' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/archive.heckel.io.list"  

sudo apt update

sudo apt install pcopy

```



**Debian/Ubuntu** (*manual install*)**:**

```bash

wget https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/releases/download/v0.6.1/pcopy_0.6.1_amd64.deb

dpkg -i pcopy_0.6.1_amd64.deb

```



**Fedora/RHEL/CentOS:**

```bash

rpm -ivh https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/releases/download/v0.6.1/pcopy_0.6.1_amd64.rpm

```



**Homebrew for MacOS:**

Brew package is managed semi-automatically by [nwithan8](https://github.com/nwithan8/homebrew-tap)

```bash

brew tap nwithan8/tap

brew install pcopy

```



**Docker** (*see [detailed instructions](#docker-usage)*)**:**

```bash

docker run --rm -it binwiederhier/pcopy

```



**Go:**

```bash

# requires Go 1.16

go get -u heckel.io/pcopy

```



**Manual install** (*any x86_64-based Linux*)**:**

```bash

wget https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/releases/download/v0.6.1/pcopy_0.6.1_linux_x86_64.tar.gz

sudo tar -C /usr/bin -zxf pcopy_0.6.1_linux_x86_64.tar.gz pcopy

```



After installation, you may want to check out the [Bash/ZSH autocomplete instructions](#bashzsh-autocompletion).



## Usage



### Set up a pcopy server

To setup a new pcopy server, simply run `sudo pcopy setup` (see [server setup demo](#videos)): 

```bash

sudo pcopy setup

sudo systemctl enable pcopy

sudo systemctl start pcopy

```

This will walk you through an interactive setup wizard and place a config file at `/etc/pcopy/server.conf` (see 

[sample config](configs/pcopy.conf)). The wizard will set up a pcopy user and a systemd service. Once the service 

is started, it listens on port 2586 by default.



If you've enabled the Web UI, you can browse to it an paste text snippets or upload files to it (see [live demo](#demo)).    



### Join an existing clipboard

To join an existing clipboard, you may use `pcopy join`:

```bash

pcopy join private.example.com

pcopy join work.mycorp.com work

pcopy list

```

You can join multiple clipboards and give each of them an optional alias (see `work` clipboard above). Each 

clipboard has its own config file, either in `~/.config/pcopy` or in `/etc/pcopy` (for root). You can list connected

clipboards with `pcopy list`.



### Start copying & pasting

Now you can start copying and pasting by using `pcp` (short for: `pcopy copy`) and `ppaste` (short for: `pcopy paste`). 

Any connected client, regardless of what computer it's on, can copy/paste like this (see [copy/pasting videos](#videos)):



```bash

pcp < foo.txt            # Copies foo.txt to the default clipboard

pcp bar < bar.txt        # Copies bar.txt to the default clipboard as 'bar'

echo hi | pcp work:      # Copies 'hi' to the 'work' clipboard

echo ho | pcp work:bla   # Copies 'ho' to the 'work' clipboard as 'bla'

pcp : img1/ img2/        # Creates ZIP from two folders, copies it to the clipboard



ppaste                   # Reads from the default clipboard and prints its contents

ppaste bar > bar.txt     # Reads 'bar' from the default clipboard to file 'bar.txt'

ppaste work:             # Reads from the 'work' clipboard and prints its contents

ppaste work:ho > ho.txt  # Reads 'ho' from the 'work' clipboard to file 'ho.txt'

ppaste : images/         # Extracts ZIP from default clipboard to folder images/

```



## Advanced features

The server can be configured via the well-documented config file `/etc/pcopy/server.conf` (see [sample config](configs/pcopy.conf)).

Here are a few highlights:



### Password-protected clipboard 

When you set up a new clipboard via `pcopy setup`, you can enter a password. That derives a key, which is stored in the 

config file (see [Key section](https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/blob/4dfeb5b8647c04cc54aa1538b8fb3f5d384c3700/configs/pcopy.conf#L23-L30)).

To add a password after initial setup, use the `pcopy keygen` command.



When joining a clipboard with `pcopy join`, you'll be asked for a password. When using `curl`, you can provide the 

password via `-u :` (see [curl usage](#curl-compatible-usage)). 



### Support for multiple clipboards

You can provide an (optional) alias to a clipboard when you `pcopy join` it (see [join](#join-an-existing-clipboard)).

You may then later reference that alias in `pcp :..` and `ppaste :..` (see [copy/paste](#start-copying--pasting)).



To list all your connected clipboards, simple type:

```bash

$ pcopy list

Clipboard Server address   Config file

--------- --------------- ----------------------------

work      10.0.160.67     ~/.config/pcopy/work.conf

default   nopaste.net:443 ~/.config/pcopy/default.conf

```

### Web UI for uploading text snippets or large files

pcopy comes with a Web UI. You can check out the [demo](#demo).   

*(Note: I am not a web guy. I could use some help here!)*



![Web UI](assets/demo-webui.gif)



### `curl`-compatible usage 

If you don't want to install `pcopy` on a server, you can use simple HTTP GET/PUT/POSTs, e.g. via `curl`. There's an entire

`curl` [help page](https://nopaste.net/curl) available too if you just type `curl `. You may use `-u :` to provide the clipboard

 password (if any). Here's an example for the [demo clipboard](#demo):

```bash

# Show curl help page

curl nopaste.net



# Copy/upload to clipboard (POST/PUT both work)

curl -d Howdy nopaste.net/hi-there

curl -T germany.jpg https://nopaste.net/germany



# Paste/download from clipboard

curl https://nopaste.net/hi-there

```



### `nc`-compatible usage 

Similar to the `curl` API, you can upload files via netcat (`nc`). There's a detailed [help page](https://nopaste.net/nc) available by typing `echo help | nc  `, e.g. `echo help | nc -N nopaste.net 9999`. Unlike the curl-API, the netcat usage is limited to uploading files only.



```bash

# Show nc help page

echo help | nc -N nopaste.net 9999



# Upload to clipboard

echo check this out | nc -N nopaste.net 9999

cat dog.jpg | nc -N nopaste.net 9999



# Upload with  TTL

(echo "pcopy:?t=30m"; cat dog.jpg) | nc -N nopaste.net 9999

```



### Streaming contents (without storing them on server)

If you have particularly large files to send across, and you know you only want to send them to exactly one server,

you can use ` pcp --stream`. It creates a FIFO device (`mkfifo`) on the server side, and will wait until a reading

client (`ppaste` or `curl ..`) is connected before sending.



```bash

# On machine 1

yes | pcp --stream    # Will block until 'machine 2' is connected



# On machine 2

ppaste | pv > /dev/null

``` 



### Direct temporary links to clipboard content (with TTL/expiration)

You can generate temporary links to clipboard entries with `pcopy link`. You can send this link to someone and they

can download the clipboard content without downloading the client or using any command line tools:



```bash

$ pcopy link hi-there

# Direct link (valid for 2d, expires 2021-01-29 22:35:09 -0500 EST)

https://nopaste.net/hi-there?a=SE1BQyA



# Paste via pcopy (you may need a prefix)

ppaste hi-there 



# Paste via curl

curl -sSL 'https://nopaste.net/hi-there?a=SE1BQyAxNjA'

```



### Limiting clipboard usage

You can limit the clipboard usage in various ways in the config file (see [config file](https://github.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/blob/4dfeb5b8647c04cc54aa1538b8fb3f5d384c3700/configs/pcopy.conf#L66-L101)), 

to avoid abuse:



* `ClipboardSizeLimit`: Limits the total size of the entire clipboard (size of all files)

* `ClipboardCountLimit`: Limits the number of clipboard files

* `FileSizeLimit`: Limits the per-file size

* `FileExpireAfter`: Limits the age of a file (after which they will be deleted)



The [demo clipboard](#demo) uses these settings very restrictively to avoid abuse.



### Browser-only links that store your data in the URL fragment



Inspired by [nopaste.ml](https://nopaste.ml) and [paste](https://github.com/topaz/paste), pcopy also supports links that 

store all data in the URL fragment/anchor (the part in the URL after the `#`) and not on the server. 



When the "Client-side" checkbox is checked in the Web UI, pcopy compresses the text in the editor using LZMA and then 

encodes the result using Base64, e.g. `https://nopaste.net/#XQAAAQAKAA...`. As long as you have this link, this text can

never be deleted and never expires.



Here's an [example](https://nopaste.net/#XQAAAQD/AAAAAAAAAAAkGkAHQ30IXZA3jeQkZZItfPikpd4KaJ5EwL+3jkWf1npuHdpK3Miq3nr2jWTqjzbcQcfEp1beN+JG4OrP2U1B05NIVqx4SK5oEeVjzYaQ7c+ZeI6M28viSMa1/EwPhNjrfvPpa8sNufdVJxUtZX1KphQKpZwAO5ShztZNvnpvpsf2KTtyHw6z4Ybm/nBAKzuJF3fCz1qTnAuGTHA91Kp0s7GbEBP5bGgGNSsqaWesKd9AE59x0Uf27+z+dRdxLev/9U/BQw==). 

When you open the link, pcopy reads, decodes, and decompresses whatever is after the `#`, and displays the result in the editor.

This process is done entirely in your browser, and the web server hosting pcopy never has access to the fragment.



The link is also compatible with the original implementations. Here's the same example for [nopaste.ml](https://nopaste.ml/#XQAAAQD/AAAAAAAAAAAkGkAHQ30IXZA3jeQkZZItfPikpd4KaJ5EwL+3jkWf1npuHdpK3Miq3nr2jWTqjzbcQcfEp1beN+JG4OrP2U1B05NIVqx4SK5oEeVjzYaQ7c+ZeI6M28viSMa1/EwPhNjrfvPpa8sNufdVJxUtZX1KphQKpZwAO5ShztZNvnpvpsf2KTtyHw6z4Ybm/nBAKzuJF3fCz1qTnAuGTHA91Kp0s7GbEBP5bGgGNSsqaWesKd9AE59x0Uf27+z+dRdxLev/9U/BQw==)

and for [topaz's paste](https://topaz.github.io/paste/#XQAAAQD/AAAAAAAAAAAkGkAHQ30IXZA3jeQkZZItfPikpd4KaJ5EwL+3jkWf1npuHdpK3Miq3nr2jWTqjzbcQcfEp1beN+JG4OrP2U1B05NIVqx4SK5oEeVjzYaQ7c+ZeI6M28viSMa1/EwPhNjrfvPpa8sNufdVJxUtZX1KphQKpZwAO5ShztZNvnpvpsf2KTtyHw6z4Ybm/nBAKzuJF3fCz1qTnAuGTHA91Kp0s7GbEBP5bGgGNSsqaWesKd9AE59x0Uf27+z+dRdxLev/9U/BQw==).



You can also generate the links from the command line (thanks to nopaste.ml for this):

```

# Linux

echo -n 'Hello World' | lzma | base64 -w0 | xargs -0 printf "https://nopaste.net/#%s\n"



# Mac

echo -n 'Hello World' | lzma | base64 | xargs -0 printf "https://nopaste.net/#%s\n"



# Windows / WSL / Linux

echo -n 'Hello World' | xz --format=lzma | base64 -w0 | printf "https://nopaste.net/#%s\n" "$(cat -)"

```



### Docker usage

To use the [pcopy image](https://hub.docker.com/r/binwiederhier/pcopy), simply pull it and set up a few 

shell aliases to simplify local usage: 



```bash

docker pull binwiederhier/pcopy

alias pcopy="docker run --rm -v ~/.cache/pcopy:/var/cache/pcopy -v ~/.config/pcopy:/etc/pcopy -p 2586:2586/tcp -it binwiederhier/pcopy"

alias pcp="pcopy copy"

alias ppaste="pcopy paste"

```



This maps the following folders and ports (you may choose different host folders):

* Config folder: `/etc/pcopy` (image) to `~/.config/pcopy` (host)

* Clipboard folder (only for server usage): `/var/cache/pcopy` (image) to `~/.cache/pcopy` (host)

* Service port (only for server usage): 2586 (both image and host) 



You can then use pcopy just like it was installed on your host system. To use it as a client, run 

`pcopy join` (see [join instructions](#join-an-existing-clipboard)). To set up a server, run



```bash

pcopy setup

pcopy serve

```



### Bash/ZSH autocompletion

Tab completion is available for Bash and ZSH. For Bash, when installed via rpm/deb, autocomplete is immediately

available. ZSH autocomplete installation is manual.



**Bash** (*only if not installed via rpm/deb*):

```

sudo wget -O /etc/bash_completion.d/pcopy https://raw.githubusercontent.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/master/scripts/autocomplete_bash

sudo ln -s /etc/bash_completion.d/pcopy /etc/bash_completion.d/pcp

sudo ln -s /etc/bash_completion.d/pcopy /etc/bash_completion.d/ppaste

```



**ZSH**:

```

mkdir -p ~/.config/pcopy

wget -O ~/.config/pcopy/autocomplete_zsh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/binwiederhier/pcopy/master/scripts/autocomplete_zsh

for p in pcopy pcp ppaste; do echo "PROG=$p source ~/.config/pcopy/autocomplete_zsh" >> ~/.zshrc; done

```



## Demo

I run a small nopaste service on **[nopaste.net](https://nopaste.net)** that you can play with. It has quite a few 

limits in place, but you'll be able to get a feel for it:



- To join via the command line: `pcopy join nopaste.net` (see [join instructions](#join-an-existing-clipboard))

- Or use the [web UI](https://nopaste.net) (this is *work in progress*, I'm not a web designer, please help!)

- Or simply type `curl nopaste.net` (see [curl usage](#curl-compatible-usage)) 

- Or simply type `echo help | nc -N nopaste.net 9999` (see [netcat usage](#nc-compatible-usage)) 



**Limits:**   

Since [nopaste.net](https://nopaste.net) is publicly available, I put quite strict limits in place. It is limited to 

2 GB total, 500 KB per file, 10,000 files. Files expire after 2 days. Also, overwriting files is disabled (which, if

you use it as a personal clipboard, is quite nonesensical, but it makes sense for a nopaste).



I also made a couple [more videos](#videos) to show what else pcopy can do.



## Videos



  

    

    

    

  

  

    Simple copy & paste

    Setting up a new server

    Copying entire folders

  

  

        

    

    

    

  

  

    Creating a link to a password-protected clipboard        

    Copying/uploading through the Web UI

    Copy/pasting with `curl`

    

  



## Command-line help

Each command has a detailed help page. Simply type `pcopy -help`, `pcp -help`, etc. Here's the main help page:

```bash 

$ pcopy --help

NAME:

   pcopy - copy/paste across machines



USAGE:

   pcopy COMMAND [OPTION..] [ARG..]



COMMANDS:

   Client-side commands:

     copy, c    Read from STDIN/file(s) and copy to remote clipboard

     paste, p   Write remote clipboard contents to STDOUT/file(s)

     join, add  Join a remote clipboard

     leave, rm  Leave a remote clipboard

     list, l    Lists all of the clipboards that have been joined

     link, n    Generate direct download link to clipboard content

   Server-side commands:

     serve   Start pcopy server

     setup   Initial setup wizard for a new pcopy server

     keygen  Generate key for the server config



Try 'pcopy COMMAND --help' for more information.

``` 



## Building

Building pcopy is dead simple, however it does need Go >=1.16, because it uses [embed](https://tip.golang.org/pkg/embed/). 

Here's how you build it:



```

make build-simple

# Builds to dist/pcopy_linux_amd64/pcopy

``` 



To build releases, I use [GoReleaser](https://goreleaser.com/). If you have that installed, you can run `make build` or 

`make build-snapshot`.



## Contributing

I welcome any and all contributions. Just create a PR or an issue, or talk to me [on Slack](https://gophers.slack.com/archives/C01JMTPGF2Q).



## Inspired by

Thanks [nakabonne](https://github.com/nakabonne) for making [pbgopy](https://github.com/nakabonne/pbgopy), and for 

[posting it on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/golang/comments/k2nzyn/pbgopy_copy_and_paste_between_devices/gdwpy8u/?context=3). 

It inspired me to make pcopy. 



The Web UI as well as the client-side mode are inspired by [nopaste.ml](https://nopaste.ml/).



As many may instantly notice, pcopy is similar to [pbcopy/pbpaste](https://osxdaily.com/2007/03/05/manipulating-the-clipboard-from-the-command-line/). 

However, pcopy can copy/paste across the network. You can copy on your laptop and paste on your servers.



pcopy may also replace [scp](https://linux.die.net/man/1/scp) or [rsync](https://linux.die.net/man/1/rsync) in simple cases,

when you just want to copy a file or folder across to another computer. 



## License

Made with ❤️ by [Philipp C. Heckel](https://heckel.io), distributed under the [Apache License 2.0](LICENSE).



Third party libraries:

* [github.com/urfave/cli/v2](https://github.com/urfave/cli/v2) (MIT) is used to drive the CLI

* [CryptoJS](https://github.com/brix/crypto-js) (MIT) is used for key derivation and such in the Web UI

* [LZMA-JS](https://github.com/LZMA-JS/LZMA-JS) (MIT) is used for client-side mode to compress text

* [Lato Font](https://www.latofonts.com/) (OFL) is used as a font in the Web UI

* [GoReleaser](https://goreleaser.com/) (MIT) is used to create releases 



Code and posts that helped:

* [Drag & Drop](https://stackoverflow.com/a/33917000/1440785) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

* [Progress indicator](https://github.com/machinebox/progress) (Apache 2.0)

* [Rate limiting](https://www.alexedwards.net/blog/how-to-rate-limit-http-requests) (MIT)

* [Find common directory](https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Find_common_directory_path#Go) (GFDLv1.2)

* [Full page centering](https://medium.com/creative-technology-concepts-code/full-page-site-with-vertical-centering-using-css-only-7858ed6764c4)

* [Human readable file sizes](https://yourbasic.org/golang/formatting-byte-size-to-human-readable-format/)

* [Unzipping files](https://golangcode.com/unzip-files-in-go/)

* [HTTP server routing](https://benhoyt.com/writings/go-routing/#regex-table)

* [HTTP server error handling](https://thingsthatkeepmeupatnight.dev/posts/golang-http-handler-errors/)

* [Google Webfonts Helper](https://google-webfonts-helper.herokuapp.com/)