I am working in various Linux and UNIX environments.

I'd like to elegantly solve the problem of editing remote configuration files over SSH. Instead of using terminal editors (nano), I'd like to open the file in a local text editor on my desktop (Sublime Text 2).

CyberDuck, WinSCP and various other SFTP apps can do this.

Using editors over X11 forwarding has also proven to be problematic. Also using archaic text editors like Vim or Emacs do not serve my needs well. They could do this, but I prefer using other text editing software.

Using ssh mounts (FUSE) are also problematic unless they can happen on the demand and triggered by the remote site.

So what I hope to achieve

• Have a somekind of easily deployable shell script etc. which I can copy to remote server (let's call it mooedit)

• I run mooedit command on the remote server of which I have connected over SSH connection

• mooedit sends some kind of signal (over SSH( to my local desktop

• On my local desktop this signal is captured and it determines 'a ha! moo wants to edit a file on server X in folder Y'

• File is SFTP transfered to the local desktop (/tmp)

• File is opened in a nice GUI text editor on the local desktop

• When Save is pressed, the local desktop notices changes in the file and SFTP sends the resulting file back to the server

The question is:

• What signaling mechanisms SSH provides for this?

• Any other methods to trigger a local text editor for remote SSH file?