I’m an enterprise network engineer, and I spend my days writing automation scripts, configuring switches, and managing infrastructure. For the longest time, my workflow was fragmented: VS Code for writing configs/scripts, and a completely separate tool (like MobaXterm, SecureCRT, or Termius) for handling SSH jumps, serial console connections, and port forwards. The constant context switching was driving me crazy.
VS Code’s native Remote-SSH extension is brilliant for remote development on a single box, but it’s not designed for managing fleeting connections to hundreds of disparate network devices, interacting with physical COM/ttyUSB ports, or managing dynamic tunnels on the fly.
I couldn't find an extension that acted like a proper network engineer's terminal multiplexer, so I built NexTerminal.
A few things it handles under the hood:
- Native Serial Support: Directly connect to physical serial ports (COM/ttyUSB) without leaving the editor—vital for racking and stacking gear.
- Port Forwarding: Local, Reverse, and Dynamic SOCKS5 tunnels with live traffic counters.
- SFTP: Drag-and-drop remote file management directly linked to your active session.
- Credential Security: Hooks into VS Code’s native SecretStorage API, so credentials aren't just sitting in plaintext configs.
- Migrations: Wrote parsers to seamlessly import XML/INI session trees from legacy tools like MobaXterm and SecureCRT.
It's completely free. I built this to scratch my own itch, but I figured other SysAdmins, DevOps folks, and NetEngs might find it useful to consolidate their tooling.
I'd love for you to try it out, poke holes in it, or suggest features. Happy to answer any questions on the architecture or how the proxy/serial tunneling works!
Hi HN,
I’m an enterprise network engineer, and I spend my days writing automation scripts, configuring switches, and managing infrastructure. For the longest time, my workflow was fragmented: VS Code for writing configs/scripts, and a completely separate tool (like MobaXterm, SecureCRT, or Termius) for handling SSH jumps, serial console connections, and port forwards. The constant context switching was driving me crazy. VS Code’s native Remote-SSH extension is brilliant for remote development on a single box, but it’s not designed for managing fleeting connections to hundreds of disparate network devices, interacting with physical COM/ttyUSB ports, or managing dynamic tunnels on the fly. I couldn't find an extension that acted like a proper network engineer's terminal multiplexer, so I built NexTerminal.
A few things it handles under the hood:
- Native Serial Support: Directly connect to physical serial ports (COM/ttyUSB) without leaving the editor—vital for racking and stacking gear.
- Advanced Routing: Handles Multi-hop SSH Jump Hosts, SOCKS5, and HTTP CONNECT proxies.
- Port Forwarding: Local, Reverse, and Dynamic SOCKS5 tunnels with live traffic counters.
- SFTP: Drag-and-drop remote file management directly linked to your active session.
- Credential Security: Hooks into VS Code’s native SecretStorage API, so credentials aren't just sitting in plaintext configs.
- Migrations: Wrote parsers to seamlessly import XML/INI session trees from legacy tools like MobaXterm and SecureCRT.
It's completely free. I built this to scratch my own itch, but I figured other SysAdmins, DevOps folks, and NetEngs might find it useful to consolidate their tooling. I'd love for you to try it out, poke holes in it, or suggest features. Happy to answer any questions on the architecture or how the proxy/serial tunneling works!