<!-- https://zerolog.ch/docs/connect · Docs / Compute -->
# Drive and SSH in one click

Mount your own container as a drive and open SSH to it from Windows without typing a command. You press a button on the container's **Access** tab, and a small helper, ZeroLog-Connect.exe, does the rest over HTTPS. Only the owner of the container can use it.

- **Windows first.** On macOS and Linux the commands on the same tab still apply. The drive needs Windows 11 24H2 or later.
- **First time:** on the Access tab, under **Connect in one click**, download ZeroLog-Connect.exe and start it once. It needs no administrator rights. It keeps its credentials in Windows Credential Manager and stays in the notification area while a drive is connected.
- **The file is not code-signed yet,** so Windows SmartScreen warns when you start it: choose **More info**, then **Run anyway**. The page shows the file's SHA-256. Compare it first with `Get-FileHash .\ZeroLog-Connect.exe` in PowerShell. Everyone gets the same file, with no account or code inside it.
- **Connect drive** shows the container as a network drive, from the letter Z downward. The drive is an SMB share carried through an HTTPS tunnel; no extra port opens on your side. The share is switched on at your first click. This is separate from [WebDAV](https://zerolog.ch/docs/smb).
- **Open SSH** sets up a key, a pinned host key and an entry in `~/.ssh/config`. Afterwards `ssh zl-NAME` works in any console and in VS Code Remote-SSH. There is no "trust this host?" prompt.
- **How it is secured:** a click creates a one-time code that works for 5 minutes and once. The browser hands it to the helper through a `zerolog-connect://` link, never in a web address. The helper swaps it for a device token valid 90 days from last use. The token only opens the tunnel for that container.
- **Connected devices** lists every PC you linked. **Disconnect** ends one at once, including open connections. **End all connections** also resets the file password, so WebDAV and drives need reconnecting.
- Members of a shared container and admins who do not own it get a refusal. A locked account stops working immediately.

Status: this is released, but a complete run on a customer's Windows PC has not been confirmed yet. If the drive or SSH does not connect, tell us what the helper says. See also [terminal](https://zerolog.ch/docs/terminal) and [files](https://zerolog.ch/docs/files).

## From the button to the drive or SSH

Mermaid source of the diagram on this page:

```mermaid
%% Connect in one click: from the button to the drive or SSH. Facts from server/connectklick.js, server/routes/connect-klick.js, web/apps/web/components/containers/connect-klick.tsx.
flowchart TB
  a["1. Access tab<br/>Connect drive<br/>or Open SSH<br/>owner only"]
  b["2. One-time code<br/>5 minutes, once<br/>zerolog-connect:// link"]
  c["3. ZeroLog-Connect.exe<br/>swaps the code for a<br/>device token, 90 days"]:::hot
  d["4a. Drive<br/>SMB through an HTTPS<br/>tunnel, letter from Z"]
  e["4b. SSH<br/>key, pinned host key,<br/>ssh zl-NAME"]
  f["Disconnect one device<br/>or end all connections<br/>takes effect at once"]
  x["First time:<br/>download the helper<br/>SmartScreen warns<br/>compare the SHA-256"]

  x --> a
  a --> b --> c
  c --> d
  c --> e
  d --> f
  e --> f

  classDef hot stroke:#8f7ac9
```