Frequently asked questions

CH-J Server Manager is a desktop application for managing servers primarily over SSH. It provides server profiles, an interactive terminal, SFTP file management, monitoring, and an extensible system of installable plugins.

Yes. CH-J Server Manager is currently distributed free of charge.

The current edition uses the CH-J Proprietary Software License 1.14. It permits free commercial and non-commercial use under its terms, but does not grant general permission to modify, create development forks or publicly redistribute the software. Full terms, exceptions and third-party licenses are on the License page.

Current Alpha builds target Windows 11 x64, macOS on Apple Silicon (ARM64), and Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64. The Windows installer and Ubuntu DEB have been installed and tested on those systems; the macOS package is not yet notarized by Apple.

Share bugs and suggestions on the Community page. Source code is available in this website’s code browser; GitHub contains the public project README.

Not yet. The application is an actively developed alpha intended for testing. The update-host CA exception remains; production platform signatures and some features are still missing. Detached OpenPGP signatures for application updates are already mandatory.

Detailed guides for Windows 11 x64, macOS on Apple Silicon, and Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 are available in the matching language version of the Wiki. They cover requirements, installation steps, first launch, and current platform-specific notices.

The Alpha installer is not yet signed with a trusted publisher certificate and has not built SmartScreen reputation. Continue only with a file downloaded from this website and compare its published SHA-512 checksum before running it.

The current Alpha has only a test ad-hoc signature and is not notarized by Apple, so Gatekeeper may block its first launch. Use Open from the Control-click menu or Open Anyway in Privacy & Security, and verify the file's SHA-512 checksum first.

Stored SSH passwords, server profiles, and known host keys are held in the local vault protected with scrypt and AES-256-GCM; the master password is not stored. For key authentication, the profile stores the path to the selected private key and Core reads that file locally without copying its contents into the vault.

No. When making an SSH connection, Core passes credentials directly to the SSH server configured in the profile. The CH-J distribution server provides the update and plugin catalogue and package downloads; it is not an intermediary for SSH authentication.

Yes. A server profile supports authentication with either a password or a private SSH key. Select a local private-key file rather than the public .pub file; an encrypted key can use the passphrase you enter.

Core reads an HTTPS catalogue of compatible releases, and the app and plugins each have a separate Alpha, Beta, or Stable channel choice. Core checks the expected size and SHA-512 before using a package. Alpha contains the newest test builds, Beta contains more complete builds for broader testing, and Stable contains verified releases for normal use. Application updates also require a valid detached OpenPGP signature. License acceptance is required again for every new build.

Download the .asc file and copy the complete SHA-512 from the release details. Verify the CH-J public key and signature using gpg --verify, then compare the downloaded file’s SHA-512. See Updates and signatures for the full guide.

Plugins are separately installable tools that extend the small Core without modifying it. Currently published tools include System Monitor, File Manager, Key Generator, Log Viewer, Users, and NGINX Manager.

Yes. Plugin windows run in the Electron sandbox without Node integration, and Core exposes only capabilities declared by the verified manifest. Plugins have no general access to Node.js, the local disk, the network, or an unrestricted remote shell; the sandbox is still not an absolute security guarantee for untrusted code.