Directory tracking in remote shell buffer

Question

I use the shell command via C-u M-x shell to open a shell on a remote server by giving as default directory the path to the remote server (e.g /[email protected]:/home/user) (which should have the same effect as the method described in this answer).

The directory of the buffer is at the beginning in sync with the directory of the shell (/[email protected]:/home/user`), and tab completion works as expected giving me choices from the remote directory.

However, when you issue

cd ~

in the remote shell, the buffer directory is set to the local home path, so that I get tab completion for local directories which obviously does not make any sense in the remote shell.

How can I keep the directory tracking in sync even when I use cd in the remote shell? - I'm using GNU Emacs 23.1.1 on Centos, remote machine is Linux too.

Answer 1

Not the best solution, but certainly a working one: Use [dirtrack-mode]. The following preparations are needed:

1. On the remote machine:

Make sure the prompt of the remote shell contains the path including the server login in TRAMP notation (e.g. /[email protected]:/home/user). You can achieve this by setting PS1 (e.g. in the .bashrc file on the remote server):

export PS1="[/\u@\h:\$PWD]$ "

2. In your local Emacs:

Run the following list expression (e.g. in the .emacs file):

(setq dirtrack-list (quote ("^\\[\\(.*\\)\\]" 1)))

Then, after establishing a remote shell buffer, issue M-x dirtrack-mode in that buffer and - voila! - the buffer directory should follow the shell directory properly.

This solution isn't perfect, because it is necessary to print out in the remote shell the whole absolute path extended by the server login credentials. (Make sure the home directory gets expanded to the full path!) However it does work reliably.